The Weaker Sex
by redwolfhowl
Summary: Sometimes you just have to wonder...if Yugi were a girl, how different would the series be? VERY...
1. Strange Little Girl

**Author's Introduction: **

On the bandwagon I jump, and it's up to the readers to grade the landing, and possibly style points.  Like many before me, I love to watch "Yu-Gi-Oh!", and like many before me, I love to read the "Yu-Gi-Oh!" manga, and like many before me, I've always wondered what it would be like if Yugi Motou, bless his little golden heart, was rewritten as a cute, sweet, occasionally lethal girl.  Being a cute, sweet, occasionally lethal girl myself, I couldn't resist the urge to see for myself what might happen if Yugi stepped into a pair of high-heeled shoes…

Some things you should know, should you choose to continue, and I hope you do: I love the meaning of the word "Yami", and so I've decided to rename my girl-incarnation Yami, that which means "dark", as opposed to "Yugi", that which means "game" or "to play".  You'll see why once you meet her…it just fits her better.

For most of the story, I'm following the manga; however, parts of the storyline have been radically altered to suit my rather capricious taste.  It's fun to be a writer, isn't it?

The character of Tea Gardner will not be appearing in this story.  I wish to make it clear that that is NOT because I am anti-Tea--in fact I'm very fond of the character.  The only reason I couldn't write her in is that too many alpha females and a pack tears itself apart.  Yami and Mai are quite the prima donnas.  Plus, I couldn't resist stealing a few of Tea's outfit designs for Yami-girl.  :P Shoot me.  Think less of me.  

I've decided to make Yami-girl a brunette.  It just looked cooler when I colored some early sketches on Photoshop; plus, I'm a brunette myself, and being the original Elegant Egotist, I couldn't resist.

Yes, there is a romantic pairing in the story, but you'll have to wait for it.  Any and all comments are appreciated, but please be civil.  

All right, I think that's it so far. Take it away, Yami-girl.  The weaker sex, indeed! *^_^*

**

**The Weaker Sex**

**

**Chapter One, First Duel: Strange Little Girl**

**

_She didn't know how to live in a town that was rough_

_It didn't take long before she knew she'd had enough_

_Walking home in her wrapped up world_

_She survived but she's feeling old_

_'cause she found_

_All things cold_

_Strange little girl_

_Strange little girl_

_Where are you going?_

_Strange little girl_

_Where are you going?_

_Strange little girl, you_

_I really should, you_

_I really should be_

_Going_

(Strange Little Girl)

(Tori Amos)

**

Morning in Domino City. The temperature was warm, the wind gentle, and a girl was buckling her sandals by her door, under the watchful eye of her grandfather. 

"Grandpa," she said softly, turning crimson eyes up to the old man. "I can't do it. I'm too different. I'm too afraid."

He shook his head, giving her a smile. "Think of it as a game, honey. Maybe it'll even be fun."

The girl frowned. "I don't like fun."

Her grandfather grinned. "But you like games."

She stood up, putting a look of determination on her face that made her grandfather proud. "That's my girl."

She drew herself up to her full height--which wasn't much, barely over five feet--and headed out the door.

Her grandfather couldn't help but add the last part. "Yami?"

The girl named Yami turned, her hair catching the light from the early morning sun. "Mmhm?"

Her grandfather looked sheepish. "Try not to get kicked out this time?" 

Yami frowned mockingly at him and then continued on her way.

**

Joey Wheeler was having a bad ten minutes of it.

His eyes ached. He'd spent the entire night watching a porno tape he'd pilfered from his father, but all the good parts had been censored out! Now he had a raging headache, and Ms. Chono's voice was like a nail in his head.

"We've got a new student today, class. Like to introduce yourself?" Chono gave a squinty smile to a girl standing at the front of the room. That is, Joey _thought_ she was standing. She was so small, she looked like she was _kneeling_! He snickered to himself watching her lift her bowed head with a sigh. 

She was petite--her head barely came up to Chono's shoulder, and the teacher was petite, too. Her short hair was a cold brown, except for streaks of vanilla blonde in her bangs. It fell straight just above her shoulders, when she lifted her head, the entire class could see crimson eyes flashing in her tanned face.

Joey was startled. She had red eyes!

She was wearing a blue sundress and sandals--being new, she didn't have the school uniform yet. She seemed uncomfortable being on display at the front of the room. "My name is Yami Motou. I'm very happy to be here," she said, but not like she meant it. She gave the class a watery smile.

"There's an empty seat in front of Joey Wheeler," Chono said, and the girl scurried to her seat. She quickly scrunched down in her chair, and Joey forgot all about her for the rest of the class.

**

After trying the boys' bathroom, the telephone alcove, and the bushes outside, Joey had decided the best place to steal a smoke was the quad. The only point in the minus column was that sneaking back inside involved passing directly by the principal's office. Luckily the principal was distracted.

"Ms. Motou, this has been the way for years. The rules cannot be changed because they offend your sense of _fashion_."

A voice was ready to argue. "I can't wear this!" it shrilled. "It's _ugly_!"

Joey flattened himself against the wall to better hear this exchange.

"It is the uniform!"

"It's _pink_!" Yami Motou continued. "It looks ridiculous! Why can't I wear the blue coat?"

"That's the boys' uniform," the principal said. "You, Ms. Motou, are a girl." 

"I'd wear the blue skirt," Yami protested, trying to bargain. "It's just the jacket that's no good."

The principal apparently didn't feel like making a deal.  "This discussion is closed. Go back to class, Ms. Motou."

Unfortunately for Joey, Yami did just that--she stormed out of the office and straight into him, stepping on his foot with a pointy-heeled sandal.

"_Ow_!" Joey yelped. "Watch where the hell you're going!"

Yami looked surprised for a second, then her red eyes turned angry. "_You_ were in _my_ way!" 

"What's all the noise?" The principal stepped out into the hallway to see what was going on, and narrowed his eyes at Joey. "Mr. Wheeler. What are you doing out of class?"

Joey struggled for an answer. "I--ah--"

"Never mind. You can make up the classwork you're missing--in detention. See you at dismissal." The principal turned, going back into his office. "Both of you, go back to class."

As soon as he was gone, Joey turned to glare at Yami--but she had fled.

**

When Joey got back to class, Yami was already in her chair. He glared at her as he passed, but she ignored him.

_Stupid girl_, he thought. _I'll show her what happens when you tangle with Joey Wheeler!_

He always kept a package of gum in his pocket to chew after he had a cigarette; right now he took out the remaining three pieces and began chewing all of them at once. Yami's dark hair was shining in the light from the window, just begging for it. The blonde streaks faded into the brunette just after they framed her face. 

Meanwhile, Miho Nosaka was raising her hand, her pale ponytail waving as she tried to get the teacher's attention. "Ms. Chono! Ms. Chono! Joey Wheeler's chewing gum in class!"

Chono turned a frown to the back of the classroom, but Joey raised both his hands to show that he was unarmed, flashing a dazzling, gum-free smile at his teacher. "She's lying, teach. I ain't got no gum."

Chono looked puzzled. Miho started to protest, but she was silenced by a tiny shriek as Yami started out of her chair, hands in her hair. "Oh! Oh, _no_!"

The class started laughing as Yami tried to get the gum unstuck from her hair. Chono sighed exasperatedly. "Yami, go to the girls' room, okay?" 

The tiny brunette was almost in tears. Joey smirked in satisfaction as she ran out of the classroom, hiding her face in shame.  _Take THAT, Yami Motou.  And there'll be more where that came from, with love from Joey Wheeler!_

**

By lunchtime, Yami had gotten rid of the gum and kept sneaking peeks back at Joey to make sure he was behaving himself. He felt he'd let her squirm for the rest of the afternoon and come up with something else to do to her tomorrow, but his plans changed when she took a box out of her bag and smiled down at it.

"Woo hoo! Lunch time!" Steve Blackburn stretched his tanned arms over his head at the front of the room. "Let's play basketball." Not a big surprise from Steve--he was captain of the team. 

Murmurs of agreement from around the room. 

"We'll let the girls play, too," Steve decreed. "Yami, come on, want to play?"

But the earlier laughter had made Yami wary. She shrank back in her chair and shook her dark head quickly, no.

"Okay, suit yourself." Steve shrugged. "What _is_ that she's got in that box, anyway?" he murmured as he left the room, spinning a basketball on his finger.

Yami smiled secretly. "It's my greatest treasure," she murmured. "It's something you can see, but have never seen before!" 

She started to open the lid, but tall, tanned Tristan Taylor apparently was reading Joey's mind. "Yoink!" he teased, snatching the box off the brunette's desk. "Talking to yourself, Yami? You win the prize for creepy!"

"Give it back, Tristan!" Yami said, red eyes wide as she rose from her chair. "It's mine!"

"Yeah, it's your greatest treasure!" Tristan jeered. "Pass, Joey!" He tossed the box over Yami's head.  Yami leapt gracefully, but she couldn't catch it. 

Joey caught it easily and chuckled. "Yeah, it's Yami's treasure box. What girly crap!"

"Give it _back_," Yami cried. "It's _important_--my grandpa gave it to me!"

"Sounds _special_," Joey teased, waving the box temptingly at her.

"It _is_ special," Yami insisted, pouting.  "It was found in an Egyptian ruin.  Whoever solves it gets one wish--"

"A _wish_?" Joey asked. "You're outta your mind!" He held the box above his head.

Yami kept swiping at Joey's hands, despite the major height differences between them. "Give it back to me!"

"Nuh-uh." Joey lifted the lid to peek into the box. He frowned at the contents. "Aw, man. How dumb! Here, Tristan." He tossed the box languidly back to Tristan, but Yami intercepted it and held it close to her chest.

"If you think it's dumb, then you won't mind if I take it back." She frowned at the both of them. "Bullies. Don't you have anything better to do than _pick_ on people?"

"What's that, Yami?" Tristan asked, cupping a hand over his ear as if he were hard of hearing. "You've got something _sticky_ in your hair?"

Yami blushed as red as her eyes. "You guys are so dumb."

Joey grinned and joined in the teasing. "What? You want some _gum_?"

Yami blushed even harder and stormed out of the room, clutching her box tightly.

"Jesus Christ. What is _with_ that girl?" Tristan asked, propping his feet up on a desk. "She's got such an attitude. And she's got red eyes! Honest to God, Joe, red eyes! Did you see?"

"She's _weird_," Joey agreed. "She thinks who she is. Who's a bully?" he asked himself crossly.

 Tristan sighed. "Uh...Joey, that would be us."

"_What_ were you saying about bullies?" a deep, gravelly voice asked. Tristan and Joey both turned, startled, to see Ushio, the hall monitor, in the doorway, blocking the wall like a tall, dark mountain.

"Nothing!" Joey said defiantly, despite Tristan's warning glance.

"_Nothing_!" Tristan agreed, quickly getting his friend in a half-nelson. "Picking on people is bad!"

"I agree," Ushio murmured, turning and walking away.

Joey growled and struggled, finding that bitching out Tristan and breathing were conflicting interests. He broke free and gasped, "You jerk! I couldn't even breathe!"

Tristan pushed his friend. "Snap out of it, Joey! Who do you think you're picking a fight with? That's Ushio, our ogre of a hall monitor!"

"Big whoop!" Joey snorted.

"Have you lost your marbles, Joe?" Tristan continued, dark brows snapping over his granite eyes.  "He makes all the rules here. Even the teachers are afraid of him!" 

"Ahh, he's not so tough!" Joey said, easily because Ushio was gone.

Tristan frowned. "Yeah, right."

Joey grinned suddenly. "Maybe this'll cheer ya up." He held up something that shone gold in his hand; a piece of metal with a stylized eye carved on it.

"What's that?" Tristan asked, looking at the little piece of gold.

Joey smirked. "It's something I snuck out of Yami's treasure box. I didn't get a good look, but it looked like a puzzle."

"So?" Tristan asked.

"So? You're asking me a so?" Joey chuckled. "_So_, my friend, if Yami's missing this piece, she can't solve her precious puzzle." 

Getting it, Tristan laughed. "Good work, Joey! Up high!" They slapped a high-five.

Joey looked out the classroom window to the courtyard, where the swimming pool was catching the light of the afternoon sun. "Make a wish!" he laughed as he threw the gold piece out the window. It shone brilliantly in the sunlight for a second, then hit the water and sank, gone from view.

**

Yami Motou was having a bad day. It was nice to know that everywhere you went people were the same--stupid and shallow. At least she'd gotten through the whole day without hitting anybody. Grandpa would be proud.

_I've got to look on the bright side,_ she thought as the bells signaled the end of the day. _Maybe I can still get kicked out of school._

She was eager to get home, to escape to her room, but a deep, gravelly voice stopped her. "Yami?"

She turned to see a tall, dark-haired boy, his arms folded over his chest. "You're Yami," he repeated. "Aren't you?"

"Yes," Yami sighed, preparing for more abuse. 

But the boy smiled, the expression looking out of place on his stone face. "I'm Ushio, the hall monitor. Tell me something, Yami. I know it's tough to be the new kid. Are you being bullied by kids in your class?"

Yami didn't like the boy's smile, so she did something she was good at--she lied. "No. I'm fine."

But the boy shook his dark head. "It's sad. Victims often defend their attackers. They feel it's somehow their fault. But don't you worry, Yami." He grinned an oily grin at her.  "I'm going to be your bodyguard from now on!"

Yami's lizard sense was screaming. This boy was bad news. She could feel it. Time to go. "Thank you, anyway, Ushio, but there's really nothing going on. See you later..." She turned and hurried away, even more eager to be home.

"Goodbye, Yami," Ushio called pleasantly.

_Weirdo_, Yami thought as she walked home. _What was THAT all about?_

**

The bell above the door of the Kame Game Shop rang, and Sugoroku Motou gave Yami the first real smile she'd seen all day.  She was grateful for it.

"Hi, honey. How was your day?"

"On a scale of one to ten?" Yami asked, dropping her bag in the doorway. "It sucked!"

Sugoroku's smile faded, as if he'd been expecting this. "What happened? Did you get into any fights?"

"No," Yami sighed. "But the other kids seemed to really want me to."

Sugoroku slid a glass of chocolate milk to his granddaughter. "Well, you're home now. You're safe."

Yami sipped her milk, her red eyes staring into a middle distance. Sugoroku could tell she was reliving the events of the day. He patted her shoulder gently. "Yami, they that tease are stupid, and it is worse for them than it is for you."

"I know," Yami said dully. "I'm okay."

Sugoroku knew she wasn't okay, so he changed the subject, retrieving her bag and taking the box out of it. "Still haven't given up on that puzzle, eh?" he asked.

"Who's giving up?" Yami asked defiantly, taking the box.

The old man smiled. "That's my girl. Never give up, Yami, and you can do anything."

It earned him a smile.

**

The next day, Yami tugged angrily at the sleeves of the pink uniform jacket at lunchtime. She hated it so much. The color was wrong, the cut was wrong, the material was a nightmare from hell, and it itched. It wasn't fair...

"Yami?" a familiar gravelly voice asked. "Could I have a moment of your time?"

Yami picked her head up to see Ushio. _Uh oh_, she thought. "Um...sure."

"I've got something to show you," the hall monitor said. "I know you're going to love it."

**

Joey's right eye was sealed shut with blood. He pawed at it frantically for a second before he could get both eyes open.

He was leaning against the gym block, but he couldn't remember how he'd gotten out here. It was deserted this time of day, and the buildings created an alleyway. No one could see him, and he couldn't see out. His whole body screamed in protest when he tried to move. Tristan was next to him, blood drying beneath his nose.

"Joey? Man...what happened?" 

"That goon Ushio..." Joey started, but had to pause to spit blood from his mouth. 

Shadows fell across the mouth of the alleyway. One tall shadow, and one small one.

Ushio's chuckle was warm and jagged. "Take a look, Yami!"

Joey's blurry eyes focused on a small figure in an ill-fitting pink jacket. She brought her hands to her mouth in surprise when she saw them.

"Joey! Tristan!" She whirled on Ushio like a tiny, angry kitten. "What have you done?"

"I told you, Yami, I'm your bodyguard!" Ushio said. "Someone had to teach these nasty bullies a lesson on your behalf!"

"You're horrible!" Yami cried, kneeling at Joey's side. "Joey? Hey, Joey? Are you all right? Tristan?"

Joey spat blood in her general direction and missed. Gross, but not very effective. "You happy now, you little bitch? Is your midget ass happy now?"

Yami's eyes were wide and shocky as she shook her head. "Joey, he's lying. It's not true. I didn't ask him to do this!" Again, she turned on Ushio. "I can't believe you did this. Someone ought to teach _you_ a lesson, you prehistoric imbecile!"

She reached for Joey but Ushio grabbed her arm and pulled her roughly back. "Hold on there, Yami. I'm not finished punishing them yet."

"_No_," Yami growled, yanking her arm back with a force Joey hadn't thought her capable of. "You are finished. You are _so_ finished. It ends now."

"You are so weird," Ushio said, arching a black brow. "Why are you protecting them? You ought to be thanking me! You can even pound on them yourself if you want to!"

"No!" Yami said. "You're _sick_!"

"Why not?" Ushio asked.

Yami was nettled on this one. Joey blinked, waiting for her answer. "Because...because they're my friends," she said decisively, nodding. 

Ushio laughed out loud. "Your _friends_? These guys were making your life miserable yesterday, and you call them your friends?"

"They may not be much, but they are my friends. Don't hurt them anymore." Yami stood firmly between Joey and Tristan and Ushio. "Go away."

Ushio snorted. "Whatever. But don't forget, Yami, you owe me!"

"Huh?" Yami asked. "_Owe_ you?"

"A fee for bodyguard services!" Ushio proclaimed. "200,000 yen!" 

"You don't hear very well! I never asked you to do this!" Yami snarled. "Where would I get that kind of money!"

Ushio clucked his tongue. "Boy, Yami, you're hard to please. You won't be satisfied till I hurt them even more, will you?" 

Joey stiffened, anticipating more pain. The only thing standing between him and death was a five-foot-tall girl. 

Yami was livid. "Ushio is not a fast learner," she murmured in a singsong voice, cocking her small fists. 

Tristan muttered, "_What_?"

Ushio was laughing as if he didn't believe his eyes. "Are you going to _fight_ me, little girl?"

At the mention of the word "fight" Yami jumped, lowering her fists. "Oh...I promised I wouldn't..." she murmured, almost to herself.

Joey wanted to scream at her to break whatever promise had been made, but it was too late.

"You think I won't hit a girl, hmm?" Ushio asked. "You must know how I _hate_ to pick on people--" Almost languidly, he turned and slapped Yami with one large hand, sending her spinning down to slide next to Joey. Her cheek was red and Joey could tell she'd have a bad bruise by tomorrow--it had been an open backhanded slap. If he'd closed his fist she'd have been unconscious. Ushio punctuated it nicely with a kick to her stomach. Yami lay on the ground, the fight gone out of her before it began. Her breathing sounded like a bucket of bolts.

_Stupid girl!_ Joey thought. _Why didn't you just back down like you did yesterday? Why'd you have to be a hero and try to protect us?_

"Don't forget. 200,000 yen. Tomorrow." Ushio nudged Yami with his boot and then walked away.

"Damn, man," Tristan groaned, sliding up the wall to his feet.

"You okay, man?" Joey asked, brushing dust off his coat. "What about you, Yami?"

He reached to help the girl up, but she pushed him away and ran, coughing, out of the alleyway.

"Hey!" Joey said, surprised. "Yami! Come back! Yami!"

**

Late afternoon was shading into evening, the sunset dipping Domino windows in gold.

The tears stung Yami's bruised cheek. Even the gentle pressure of crying hurt. Her hands were scraped from falling in the alley and they stung too, but she kept working on the puzzle, fitting pieces into pieces and trying to forget how bad everything was.

_I can't believe I'm working on a puzzle with the Cup of Death floating before my eyes_, she thought. _Why is it that the more awful I feel, the easier it is to--oh!_

She fit a piece in with a sharp _snick_, and suddenly a pattern was revealed to her.

_I get it_, she thought. _After you put this in, you give it a half-turn...then this one...then..._

And suddenly, there it was, a golden pyramid, completed in her hands. All except for--

"The last piece!" Yami reached into the box. "If I can put the last piece in, it's done!"

But her hand touched on flat, empty space. Crimson eyes wide in disbelief, she looked into the box. "It's not here," she said frantically to the empty room. "It's gone!"

Curling up in her chair, she rested her bruised cheek against her knees and wept harder. _It's gone, it's gone! I'll never solve the puzzle--I can never solve the puzzle!_

"I'll _never_ get my wish!" she cried angrily, smashing her scraped fists on her desk. Burying her face in her arms, she abandoned herself to tears, positive the fates were conspiring against her.

"Well, I'll be damned!" Sugoroku chuckled behind his granddaughter, coming into the room. "You finished the Millennium Puzzle!"

Yami sniffled and wiped her nose on her sleeve, turning to face him. "No. I couldn't finish it after all, Grandpa. No good."

Sugoroku smiled at his granddaughter and ruffled her dark hair. "Have a little faith, Yami. You'll get your wish."

And like a magician, he pretended to pull something from behind her ear. Something golden--

"The last piece!" Yami's eyes went wide and dead with shock. Then she was tackling the old man in a hug. "Youfoundityoufoundityoufounditthankyouthankyouthankyou!"

Sugoroku smiled. "I'm not the one who found it. A friend of yours stopped by and asked me to give that to you."

"A friend?" Yami was confused.

"Yes. Strange boy...he was soaked to the skin! But it's not raining..." Sugoroku looked out the window.

"I wonder who it was?" Yami smiled at the piece of gold in her hand. "Thanks, anyway, Grandpa!"

Sugoroku dropped a kiss on his granddaughter's forehead and turned to leave. "Get some sleep, Yami. You've got school in the morning."

Not even the thought of school could dampen Yami's excitement. _Well_, she thought with a wry smile, _at least I can say I finished the puzzle before I died._

Yami carefully slid the last piece into the Millennium Puzzle, holding her breath. It fit perfectly and she grinned. "I did it! You're mine!" she cheered, jumping out of her chair. Holding the puzzle above her head, she spun gracefully in a victory dance and flopped backwards to land on her bed.

_So tired_, she thought as her eyes flickered shut. _What a day..._

Soon she was asleep. When Sugoroku looked back in to check on her, he smiled. 

_The boy who came to the door told me everything, Yami,_ he thought. _Told me his name was Joey Wheeler, but he asked me not to tell you that. He told me about the boy that's threatening you. He told me you didn't fight back...how you tried so hard to keep out of trouble._

The old man slid an envelope into his granddaughter's bag. In it was 200,000 yen.

_Although_, Sugoroku thought with a smile, _I think that thug Ushio might be the one who'll get trouble!_

** 

Sugoroku couldn't have been more right. As soon as he was gone, Yami rose languidly from the bed, a strange new light in her crimson eyes.

"I want to go play," she murmured, picking up her wireless telephone and dialing a number from the student directory.

**

Ushio snickered to himself as he walked into the schoolyard. A full moon rode high over the bell tower, holding court over a cloudless sky. Ushio's dark eyes scanned warily across the empty schoolyard-it didn't hurt to be cautious, considering the mysterious phone call he'd received...

_I can't believe that little bitch Yami called me out here!_ he thought, turning to see someone already waiting for him. "Huh?"

 Yami Motou was sitting on one of the hurdles the gym class used. She was wearing a pair of black jeans and a black midriff blouse. Over this funerary color scheme she wore a black jacket that closed with one button over her stomach and fanned out, hitting her at mid-thigh. The black was accented with heavy gold jewelry--two large bracelets encircling her wrists. Ushio had no way of knowing that they were ankhs, the Egyptian symbol of life. Around her neck she wore something that looked like a black belt, buckled over the big pulse in her throat. But the real crowning glory was a gold pendant shaped like a pyramid. Its stylized eye seemed to follow Ushio as he advanced towards her. She had one leg crossed over the other, and her pose was sleepy, sexy, her smile leading to something yet unrevealed. 

Translate all that to mean this: the girl sitting before Ushio now bore no resemblance to the whimpering, tiny girl Ushio had slapped to the ground just this afternoon.

"Yami," Ushio said hesitantly, not even sure if it were the same girl. 

"Thanks for coming, Ushio," she said, her voice soft velvet instead of a small bell. She uncurled herself from her sitting position and hopped off the hurdle, walking toward him.

"You might be wearing big-girl's clothes, Yami," Ushio grinned, "but I can tell you're going to be a good little girl and hand over the 200,000 yen like I asked." He held out his huge hand.

"Oh, that's too bad," Yami sighed, holding up a stack of bills. "I only have 400,000 yen."

Ushio's eyes widened. "400,000 yen! Good girl!" 

Yami smiled secretly. "But I think money has to be earned, don't you? It wouldn't be any fun at all to just _give_ it to you." She teased the money beneath Ushio's nose, smirking. "How about you play a game with me!"

"A game?" Ushio knew Yami was weird, but this was a little too weird.

Yami nodded. "Not just any game, though. A _Shadow Game_! It'll be fun, and if you win, you'll get more than 200,000 yen! Pretty sweet deal, right?" She crossed one leg behind the other girlishly. "How about it? Don't you want to play with me?"

Ushio felt a slow smile forming on his face. "Interesting concept."

"You bet it is." Yami suddenly tipped herself forward, hands pressed to Ushio's chest to hold herself up. "Is that a knife in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?" Reaching into his jacket, she drew out the blade, tilting it back and forth in the stingy moonlight. "Perfect. Everything's ready, then!"

"What sort of game are we supposed to play with these?" Ushio was confused as Yami returned to the hurdle, placing the knife on top of it.

"It's simple. This is what we do." She placed her left hand palm down on the hurdle and put the stack of yen on top of it. Taking the blade in her right hand, she touched the tip of it to the yen gently. "We take turns putting the money on top of our hand and stabbing it with the knife. You only get to keep the money that the knife stabs, and you always have to take more than one bill. The game ends when all the money's gone, and whoever has the most wins. Sound good?"

Ushio grinned. "It's just a test of courage."

"Exactly. Oh, and one more thing," Yami added lazily. "If a player tries to take the money by hand or quit before the game's over, they'll lose and forfeit all their money to their opponent. And if you lose, the consequences will be...dire." The word left hissing echoes. "A penalty game decides the punishment of the loser. Shall we ro-sham-bo for turn order?" 

Yami held out her delicate hand flat, while Ushio kept his in a tight fist.

Yami smiled. "Paper wraps rock. I'll go first." She took the knife and hesitated a second before plunging it a little ways into the stack of bills. Sighing, she held up the pierced yen and her uncut hand. "Hm! I didn't even get ten bills! They're not so easy to stab!"

Ushio took the knife, snickering. "Stupid. The point of the game is to get as much money as possible."

"No, the _point_ of the game is to control your greed!" Yami answered. "If you use too much strength, you'll stab yourself!"

"Shut _up_," Ushio growled, punctuating it with a mighty stab to the yen. Holding it up, he waved it at Yami. "In your face, little girl! I've got over 100,000 yen and my hand's not scratched!"

"Pretty good, Ushio," Yami said, nonplussed. "But you'll find that with every turn, the money lessens, and so does your control. I take my turn again."

Like noon and night, they continued the game with only the moon as witness--as Ushio took his turns, his movements became more brazen, his stabs with the knife more vicious to the yen.  By contrast, Yami seemed to have all the time in the world.  She reached languidly for the knife and plunged it deftly into the thinning stack of yen, holding it up curiously to her eye level like a scientist.  She seemed to care little for the sharpness of the blade as she lazily slid the bills off it just in time for Ushio to rip the knife from her hands again.

Finally, the money was almost gone. Ushio had the knife, wavering over his left hand. Yami watched patiently, her eyes deep. "What's the matter, Ushio?" she asked pleasantly, seeing the boy tense.

_My HAND,_ Ushio thought, trying not to let his face betray his rising fear.  _It wants to stab down hard so I can take the last of the money, but I can't do it without hurting myself!..._

"What the fuck's going on?" Ushio growled, straining against empty air. "I can't stop my hand!"

"Welcome to the Shadow Games, Ushio," Yami explained with a dark chuckle. "You cannot hide your true nature here. It's your own greed that will decide your fate, not I! Do you sacrifice your left hand to take the money, or do you lose the game?"

Ushio suddenly snickered. "I've got a _better_ idea!" Swinging his arm, he buried the knife in the little brunette's chest--

--or _tried_ to; Yami was too fast for him, leaping gracefully out of the way.  Ushio whipped his head to the sky to try and follow her flight, but all he saw was a dark blur that suddenly landed behind him, heels clicking sharply on the ground.  Whirling to face her seemed a slow graceless dance.  Her smile was wicked. 

"Just as I suspected! You weren't able to follow the rules after all!" she said, her vanilla blonde bangs flicking in a sudden breeze to reveal something flickering on her forehead--an eye, a stylized eye that matched the one on the pyramid she wore around her neck. "How dare you trespass in my soul, Ushio! How dare you hurt my friends and try to steal my money!!"

Holding her left hand out in front of her, she spread her fingers as if casting a curse on him. "Penalty game!" she announced gleefully. "_Greed_, the illusion of avarice!"

Ushio opened his mouth to say--something--anything--but was interrupted by a sudden vision.

Money. Money falling around them like cherry blossoms, like snow. Yami was nearly lost in it, a ghost in a fog. 

"It's money!" Ushio screamed, throwing his hands in the air. "It's everywhere!" 

"No, my dear," Yami murmured. "It's only in your head..." 

But Ushio had no ears for her any longer. Let the stupid git play her games! He was rich! Rich! Rich! He grabbed fistfuls of yen, trying to stuff as much of it into his coat as he could. 

Yami was already tucking her own yen into her black coat. "And they all lived happily ever after," she said softly, turning away, a stain on the night. 

**

Joey scratched his cheek gently as he waited for the first bell. The bandages were stiff and they itched. The bright side was that if Ushio killed him today, they wouldn't hurt anymore...

"Hey, what's going on?" A crowd was amassed around a tree by the front door. Jogging over there, Joey saw something very peculiar. 

"Mine," Ushio was mumbling. "It's all mine! You can't have any of it...I won't let anyone else have my money!"

"Ushio??" Joey wondered aloud. The hall monitor was lying in a pile of leaves, picking them up and looking at them in the sunlight as if they were something precious and fine. 

"He thinks those leaves are _money_?" someone asked.

"Ick!" Miho Nosaka. said. "It's not just leaves! There's _garbage_ in there too! Yuck!"

Another voice caught Joey's attention. "Well, it's hard to argue with someone who looks so happy..." The voice was attached to a confused face, and the face had red eyes. As she turned away, Joey caught a glimpse of a gold pendant around her neck.

"Hey, Yami, wait up!" he called, jogging after her. 

She turned. "Hi, Joey. How's your eye?"

He shrugged. "Ah. Been better. Hey, you finished your puzzle!"

Yami grinned and held it up. "Yeah! I finished it last night." She smiled down at it. "My treasure..."

It was now or never, Joey decided. "I've got a treasure, too. Want to see it?"

Yami nodded readily. "Okay."

Joey chuckled. "Heh. You can't! I'll even give you a hint if you want. It's something you can show, but can't see!"

Yami grinned at the riddle, trying to figure it out. "What could that be...?"

Joey smiled at her. "Give up? It's friendship."

Getting it, a slow smile spread across Yami's face. "Oh!"

"Thanks for showing me we're friends." Joey held out a hand to Yami, and she shook it tentatively.

"Really, Joey?" she asked.

He nodded with happy inspiration, remembering something he had in his locker. "Really, really. Here, I'll even prove it to you! I've got something for you. You know, as thanks for yesterday. Come on."

Puzzled, Yami followed Joey to his locker, where he pulled something long and blue out of it--a uniform jacket. "It'll be too big for you, but anything's better than that stupid pink one you're wearing now." Joey folded the jacket over his arm and handed it to Yami. "Here, try it on."

Yami's crimson eyes were wide with surprise as she stripped off the pink coat and tried on the blue one. Joey was right--it was too big. The hem fell at mid-thigh, and the sleeves had to be rolled back a little, but the grateful look on her face was worth it.

"That's a lot better, ain't it?" Joey grinned. "You c'n keep it. I don't ever wear it. It's too small for me." 

"Really?" Yami's eyes sparkled. "Thanks, Joey!"

"No problem," he said, turning to go to class. "What are friends for, anyway?" 

**

**Author's Note:**

And there we have the first chapter.  I've got a few more shuffled into my deck, though…comments are greatly appreciated.  *^_^* And if you're mad…yell at Yami-girl.  It's she who's gotten me into this mess.  *^_^*


	2. Riot Girl

**Author's Introduction:**

Thanks to all those who reviewed the first chapter! *^_^* It was so nice to have feedback on this story--I was a little nervous about sending poor Yami-girl out into the world! But now she's a little more comfortable, and so she's back for another game…

Some things you should know:

This chapter is based on the seventh duel of the manga…I needed to skip a few in the middle since it would just be Yami by herself, and there's really no room for character development.  However, this chapter DOES have room for character development--give it up for Tristan, because he's in this one. *^_^* I have to say, I feel that he's treated like a bit of a goof in the anime, so I tried to give him a sharper edge here.  What do you think?

This chapter contains the first of many homages to "Naruto", one of my favorite manga stories.  I don't own it, or "Yu-Gi-Oh!" Anything else I need to tell you…? Hmm, I don't think so! In that case, play on, Yami-girl! *^_^*

**

**The Weaker Sex**

**

**Chapter Two, Seventh Duel: Riot Girl**

**

_Christina wouldn't want to meet her_

_She hates you Britney so you better run for cover_

_My girl's a hot girl_

_A riot girl and she's angry at the world_

_Emergency call 911_

_She's pissed off at everyone_

_Police rescue FBI_

_She wants to riot_

_She wants to riot_

(Riot Girl)

(Good Charlotte)

**

Yami Motou had been in Domino High School for three weeks. So far, she'd had seven detentions. Four were for the blue coat, until the principal realized she wasn't going to budge on that issue and washed his hands of the whole affair.  One was for accidentally breaking another classmate's lamp in shop class when she and Joey were reenacting the shinobi test from that month's issue of "Naruto". One was for skipping math to smoke with Joey in the quad.  And one was for telling Ms. Chono that she wore too much makeup.

As long as none of the detentions were for fighting, Sugoroku didn't care. He was proud of his independent-minded granddaughter. Unfortunately, Ms. Chono was not, and homeroom soon became a nightmare.

_She looks like she's been made up at clown school_, Yami pouted, yesterday's detention still fresh in her mind. _You'd think someone in the teacher's lounge would have clued her in to how bad she looks._

Chono was tall and blonde, and her red lipstick was the color of fresh blood. Every so often her eyelashes would stick together, and yes, there was a pale line above her collar where the base had not been blended in. 

The bell rang. _All right,_ Yami thought happily. _One whole day without getting detention. New record_. She walked out into the afternoon sunlight, humming to herself.

"We can ask Yami! She's a girl, she'll know!" A voice said. "Hey, Yami! Wait up, biatch!" 

Yami chuckled. "Hey, Joey! You heading home?"

"Yeah," Joey said, smiling. Yami's smile faded at the sight of Tristan Taylor standing next to Joey, glaring down at her like an angry, slim messenger of doom.

_Oh, no, it's Tristan_, Yami thought.  _He hates me._

But Tristan remained silent.  The glitter in his amber eyes was not friendly, but he didn't speak or move towards her in a threatening manner.

It could be argued that Tristan Taylor basically _was_ a threatening manner--he was tall, with dark eyes glaring out of a dark face.  His hair was buzzed short on the sides, long on top, but gelled carefully so as not to obscure the hateful stare.  He was slim and lanky, but it did nothing to make him look less tough.

And still he did not move.  Yami blinked, finding this to be a rather anticlimactic letdown.

"I'm glad you're here, Yami," Joey said. "We've got an idea to discuss with you!"

Tristan's eyes went wide, the first show of expression since he'd shown up.  It was weird for Yami to see his eyes at their normal size and not slitted in anger. "Joey! You're _not_ going to ask _Yami_!"

"Sure I am," Joey said. "Relax."

"You're _kidding_! Not _Yami_!" Tristan howled. "She'll tell everyone!"

"Take it easy!" Joey protested. "You said you'd leave it to me! Yami's a girl, and she'll know what to do! She's cool, I promise!"

Yami put her hands on her hips. "What's going on?"

Joey smiled. "You'll keep it a secret, won'tcha, Yami? Just the three of us."

"True's you live," Yami swore, holding a hand up. "I won't tell."

Joey chuckled. "Truth is...Tristan's in love!"

"Aaaarrrghh!" Tristan howled--the sound of his pride being bruised.  He slapped his hands over his eyes as if that would stop Yami from seeing him in a gooey, emotional state.

"Oh, how sweet!" Yami said with a smile, unable to help being pleased. "Who's the lucky girl?"

Tristan uncovered his eyes; apparently it wasn't the reaction he'd been expecting. 

"It's Miho Nosaka," Joey said. "The student librarian?"

"Ribbon Nosaka?" Yami asked. "I know her. Everyone calls her 'Ribbon' because she always wears a yellow one in her hair."

Tristan sighed. "Ahh....beautiful Ribbon..."

"You want to get Ribbon's attention?" Yami asked.

Tristan nodded, flushing.  It was like a complete one-eighty for Tristan--Yami had never seen him act like he could even _stand_ anyone, least of all crushing on a _girl_.

"Even though he hasn't got a snowball's chance in hell," Joey chuckled. "We were thinking he could give her a present. Your store sells all sorts of weird stuff, right?"

"Our store sells _games_..." Yami said. "I guess we could _try_ it..."

She led the way to the game shop. Tristan complained the whole way there. "Joey, this is a waste of time," he groaned, to which Joey responded, "Shaddup."

Yami opened the door, the tiny bell ringing. "Grandpa? I'm home!"

"Hello, Yami! Have you got company with you?" Sugoroku was behind the counter, leaning his forearms onto the wood.

She smiled and displayed the boys to him. "Yes, actually. These are my friends--Joey Wheeler and Tristan Taylor. Joey, Tristan, this is my grandfather, Sugoroku Motou."

"Pleased to meet you both," Sugoroku said.

"You remember me, don'tcha Gramps?" Joey chuckled. They shook hands.

Yami hopped up onto the game counter, her favorite perch in the store. "We need help, Grandpa. Tristan needs a romantic gift to get his girl's attention."

Tristan started to complain again, but Sugoroku interrupted with a grin. "Have I got something for you!" He turned around and reached onto a shelf. "I haven't told Yami the story, but this was how I got her grandmother!"

"Really, Grandpa?" Yami kicked her feet. 

"Are you sure about this, Joey?" Tristan murmured.  Joey elbowed him.

"This is just a blank puzzle, Grandpa!" Yami said, opening the box.

"Exactly!" Sugoroku explained. "You write down your feelings, then break it up and send it to her. As she puts it together, your words appear! Isn't that romantic?"

Silence from the three teens; Yami looked at the puzzle, doubtful of its powers to have won her grandmother's heart.

Joey snickered, then finally gave up and laughed full-out. "Oh man, Tris! I can't imagine you with this!"

Yami went to close the box, looking sheepish, but Tristan snatched it out of her hands. "No, it's perfect! I want this!" But his excitement was short-lived. "But what should I write? I've never written a love letter..."

Tristan's amber eyes scanned the shop, and suddenly landed on Yami. His thoughts seemed to be broadcast like subtitles beneath his face. _Yami=chick=GIRL!_

"Yami--_you_ write it for me!"Tristan suddenly grabbed Yami's hand and held it to his chest, surprising the tiny brunette. "Feel that, Yami? Feel how hard it beats! I need you to take this beat and put it into words! You're a girl, and you'll write something she'll like!"

He must have sensed Yami was about to protest, because he left quickly. "Bring it with you tomorrow--and it better be good!"

The little bell rang above the door as Tristan retreated, leaving behind a wide-eyed Yami and Joey, and a chuckling Sugoroku. 

Yami hopped off the counter, then turned to Joey and punched him in the arm. "Idiot! What do *I* know about love letters?"

Joey coughed. "Whoa! Relax! I'll help you, Yami!"

"You damn well better," she said, heading up the stairs to her room. "If this doesn't work, Tristan'll _hate_ me!"

"Don't worry!" Joey crowed, following her. "You've got Joey Wheeler, the master of romance, working with ya!"

Sugoroku roared at Yami's response. "We're trying to make her _swoon_, Joey, not _puke_." 

**

Yami and Joey were yawning as they got to homeroom the next day. Yami had never received a love letter, and Joey had never written one, so it had taken them all night to come up with the simple message, _My beloved Ribbon, I've admired you from afar for so long. I love you more than anything in the universe. From Tristan Taylor._ Yami had better handwriting than Joey, so she had carefully copied the message onto the blank puzzle, which Joey had then broke into pieces.  Yami had wrapped the box with a bow, and they'd brought it to school with them the next day to meet Tristan.

After throwing out a couple of plans--one of which had borrowed heavily from that month's "Naruto"--the three of them sneaked into homeroom early, and Joey slipped the puzzle into Miho's desk.

"All right!" Yami cheered, but it was interrupted by a yawn. "We did it."

"If this goes well, it's hamburgers on me!" Tristan promised, and then the bell rang, sending everyone to their designated chairs.  

If Miho Nosaka had only turned around and looked a little to the left, she might have been able to guess Tristan was up to something, because he couldn't seem to sit still as soon as he reached his chair.  

"Look at 'im!" Joey chortled.  "He can't take it!"

"He must be sweating bullets," Yami snickered, watching Tristan smooth his hair for the fiftieth time.

Yami and Joey amused themselves for the next fifteen minutes watching Tristan squirm every time Miho turned his way.

"This is great!" Joey exulted. "Everything's going according to plan!"

"...except that she's not noticing the puzzle," Yami added with dismay.

Joey blinked. "Oh. Right."

Ms. Chono had another talent besides applying too much makeup-she'd expelled fifteen students in a six-month period, earning her the name, "The Wicked Witch of Expel". And unfortunately for our heroes, she was having a bad day.

"All right, everyone!" she announced cheerfully, ready to blow off some steam. "Time for a routine inspection! Everyone empty the contents of your desk and bag onto your desk!"

Yami and Joey exchanged identical horrified looks, then turned as one towards Tristan--who was too distracted by Miho to notice the trouble they were about to be in.

Chono walked the rows, snickering. "What do we have here? Cigarettes? Lipstick? Condoms?" she murmured to herself as the student's secrets spilled onto the desk like so much trouble.  Chono's heel clicked sharply as she stopped in front of Miho's desk, causing the Cup of Death to float in front of Yami and Joey's eyes.  

"Well! Miss Nosaka! Would you like to tell me what this is?" Chono picked up the puzzle box from Miho's desk.

As one, Yami, Joey, and Tristan froze. 

"I-I don't know," Miho stammered. "It was in my desk." She was blushing furiously.

"Well, let's find out, shall we?" Chono ripped the paper off the box.

"Chono. That _bitch_," Yami hissed.

"It's a jigsaw puzzle!" Ms. Chono announced, leaning over her desk to put it together. "What fun! You put it together and a message appears!...'My beloved Ribbon...I've admired you from afar for so long!' What a silly message!"

"Hey, we worked hard on that!" Joey hissed.

"Who gave this to her?" Chono demanded. "I want the sender to stand up now!"

Tristan steeled himself to lose Ribbon forever, and slid his chair back--but someone beat him to it.

"Well-the funny thing is, Ms. Chono, I wrote the words onto the puzzle! That's my handwriting! See?" Yami had jumped out of her chair and held up her notebook, where you could see her name and a scrap of song lyric by Yellowcard on the cover.  _All that I wanted to hear from you, something of value but something untrue..._

"Yami??" Tristan asked.

But Joey was standing up too. "But I put it in her desk, teach!"

Tristan sighed and stood up, feeling braver now that he had support. "Thanks, you guys, but that's enough. Ms. Chono, it's my message that's in that puzzle."

Yami and Joey were surprised. "Sit _down_, moron," Yami said at the same time Joey said, "You idiot!"

"Why are there _three_ of you?" Chono was confused. "_One_ of you is guilty. The other two are lying."

Yami shook her dark head. "No, Ms. Chono. None of us is lying. We're all telling the truth. I wrote the message."

"Because I _asked_ her to," Tristan protested, and was kicked by Joey.

"And I put it in her desk," Joey repeated. 

"That's enough!" Chono said, her voice a whip crack. "I don't need to hear the lies again. I just need to finish this puzzle! The last pieces will tell me the guilty one's name!"

Everyone's eyes were glued to the front of the room, so no one saw Yami's head drop suddenly, her dark hair hiding her face. When she raised it again, her crimson eyes were angry. The Millennium Puzzle seemed to catch the sunlight from the windows, but she was too far away for that...

Only Joey and Tristan were close enough to hear her say, "Oh, no, you don't," and see her raise her left hand towards Ms. Chono threateningly.

"Yami?" Tristan whispered. "You okay?"

But their eyes were torn away from her. Something was happening at the front of the room.

"I have the name!" Chono announced. "And you're expelled, Tr--" 

Before she could say the name, a sound like breaking glass was heard, and suddenly the teacher's face had become hideously ugly, revealing her true nature--every ridge, blemish, and fang she'd earned by her wickedness showing to a roomful of young, attractive teenagers.  

Homeroom, Yami's nightmare, had turned into Ms. Chono's personal nightmare.

"Whoa!" Someone pointed. "Look at her face!"

"No way!" Someone else said.

"Holy cow! Put that away!" Joey roared, covering his eyes.  

Chono's hands flew to cover her face, all thoughts of expulsion forgotten. "Class dismissed!" she said hurriedly, running out of the room.

Tristan couldn't believe his luck, or his eyes. "Joey...did you see her face?"

Joey wiped the perspiration from his forehead.  "Yeah. That was close! Good thing she went bipolar, huh Yami?"

Both boys turned to the girl, who was looking around dazedly. "Huh?" she said. "Is class over already?"

**

The next day, Tristan was walking out of the school building like a man who had lost his will to live. He'd screwed up his courage and asked Ribbon out directly, and she'd shot him down.

"It could be worse," Yami soothed.

"Of course it could be _worse_," Tristan answered. "I could have gangrene on my _face_."

"Cheer up, man, I'll buy you a burger," Joey said, clapping his friend on the back.

Tristan sighed. "Thanks for standing up to Chono for me, you guys."

"All in a day's work. I'd pick that over writing love letters any day!" Yami laughed.

Tristan actually smiled. "Yeah, that letter you guys wrote _was_ pretty bad!"

"Ay!" Joey snarled. "We did the best we could on short notice! You think you coulda done better, Romeo?"

"Really!" Yami agreed. "Next time you want to write a love letter, copy something out of _Cyrano de Bergerac_!" 

**

**Author's Note:**

Mmm…filler.  And so now, they are three! *^_^* I love the early manga, and I hope this is at least a decent homage.  What do the readers think? Yami-girl would love to know. *^_^*


	3. In These Shoes

**Author's Introduction:**

Hooray for reviews! *does a little dance.* Jump, shake your booty, yay.

One perceptive reviewer pointed something out to me that I didn't even notice myself--I've kept all the American names so far (I don't know why…except for the atrocious "Marik", I just like them better), all except one--I've kept Solomon Motou's Japanese name, Sugoroku.  Luckily, just as I was panicking, I remembered why I did it in the first place. *smiles.* I love meaning in all things, and I really liked that Sugoroku was named after a dice game, in keeping with the game theme.  After all, life's just a game of sugoroku roulette, isn't it, Yami-Girl?…

Well, let's see what she thinks.

**

**Chapter Three, Duel Eight: In These Shoes**

**

_I once met a man with a sense of adventure_

_He was dressed to thrill wherever he went_

_He said, "Let's make love on a mountaintop_

_Under the stars on a big hard rock"_

_I said "In these shoes? I don't think so."_

_I said "Honey--let's do it here."_

(In These Shoes)

(Kirsty Maccoll)

**

"Joey, where the hell are we?" Tristan complained. Meanwhile, Yami tripped over a fallen garbage can. 

"Don't worry about it!" Joey answered. "You got any place better to be?" They were currently in an alley that the sun never seemed to touch. They'd spent much of the afternoon wandering through similar alleys, full of similar shadows. Yami was wearing ankle boots and her feet were killing her. Tristan was just complaining for the hell of it. Joey ignored them both and looked at a map scribbled on a napkin from Burger World. 

"Who _drew_ that for you, Joey? Are you sure they knew what they were talking about?" Yami asked nervously, watching some rats scurry past a leaky drainpipe. "This place doesn't look very safe..."

"You're not _scared_, are you, Yami?" Tristan grinned. 

Ever since the incident with Miho Nosaka, Ms. Chono, and the love-puzzle, Tristan had been much nicer to Yami, but it was still obvious that he didn't think of her as a true equal. Joey essentially thought of her as "one of the boys", and waited patiently while she shopped at Express before dragging her to the comic book shop every time they went to the mall, but to Tristan she was still a delicate, fragile little girl. 

Yami didn't blame him. Tristan was tall and dark, his mahogany eyes slanted and secretive. His hair was shaved so high on either side that all that was left was stubble, and he used more gel on the top than was probably healthy. All he needed was a flashing sign above his head that read "Bad Ass". Yami had spent a lot of her life around very tough guys, and so she didn't mind that Tristan didn't feel she measured up yet.

The question was, how to prove it to him?

"Hey, this is the street! This is it!" Joey had turned a corner and started to run. "Junky Scorpion!"

Following Joey, Tristan and Yami looked up in surprise at a neon sign. An electric blue scorpion blinked and curled around the edge of the sign, while neon letters proclaimed "Junky Scorpion" in bright orange.

"They've gotta have what I'm looking for!" Joey cheered, running into the shop.

"I don't like this," Yami murmured she and Tristan followed Joey.

"A _shoe_ store?" Yami asked, looking around at shelves of sneakers. 

"Yeah, what'd you think we were coming for?" Joey asked.

"Drugs?" Yami asked, as Tristan said, "I was gonna have to go with drugs, Joe." 

Once again, Joey ignored his friends. He was already drooling over a pair of sneakers. "Air Muscle!" he exclaimed. "These are the real deal!"

"We came all this way for _shoes_?" Tristan wasn't happy. 

"Joey, those look a lot like your _old_ sneakers," Yami said.

Joey sniffed. "_Please_, Yami. These are _entirely_ different."

"Hey!" a voice yelled. "Those aren't for sale! They're incredibly rare!"

All three turned to see a tall, thin man with sunglasses, a do-rag, and a goatee snarling at them.  He was wearing a dark blue sweat suit, the kind that were made for looking at rather than working out in.  The hood hung low off his shoulders, and a few dreadlocks peeked out from under the do-rag.

Joey immediately held up the shoes. "Are you the owner? You've gotta sell me these sneakers!"

"Joey," Tristan said. "The guy said no sale."

"But we _did_ come a long way to find this place," Yami added quickly, trying to appeal to the man's good side.

The shopkeeper's face was bland, but that might have been due to the sunglasses hiding his eyes. "There are more guys that want those sneakers than stars in the sky, but I can't sell them to just anyone. You gotta show you have the stuff to wear those sneakers!"

Apparently he didn't have a good side.

"I've got it." Joey stabbed himself with his thumb. "How much you want?"

Tristan groaned. "Don't you know how to bargain, Joe?"

But the shopkeeper interrupted with a smirk. "How about we play a little game to see if you have the right stuff?"

Yami's ears perked up without her realizing it. "A game?" 

The shopkeeper reached into the collar of his sweatshirt and drew out a string he wore around his neck. Tied to the end of the string was a live, squirming scorpion, tail lashing in fury at being handled. Yami drew back, shuddering at the sight of it.

"Eww!"

The shopkeeper chuckled. "This scorpion's more than a mascot. It's a real one, with real poison!" He scooped the scorpion up in one hand and tipped his hand over the sneaker. 

"You got the balls to put your foot in there?" he cackled.

"Joey, _no_," Tristan said immediately, at the same time Yami said, "We are _so_ not doing this."

"Joey, we are _not_ the Electric Network," Tristan said. The Electric Network was a group of stuntmen who spent their time swallowing strange objects and performing dangerous feats. "This is nuts."

"It's too dangerous, Joey," Yami agreed.

Joey looked from the shoes to his friends, then to the shopkeeper. "I'll show _you_ who's got balls!" he snarled suddenly, jamming his foot into the sneaker. Yami and Tristan froze.

Nothing happened.

The shopkeeper started to clap his hands. "Heh. You pass!" He held up the scorpion, still tied to its string. "I didn't really put the scorpion in there. I was just testing you. Nice job--the shoes are yours!"

Yami cheered. "Hooray!"

Tristan was less than enthused, but it might have been because Joey had him in a celebratory half-nelson. "Awright!!" the blond boy exulted.

Joey paid as if he were buying Kobe Bryant's shoes right off his feet.  Yami looked closely at the shoes, but she couldn't find anything truly special about them--or any difference between them and Joey's _old_ sneakers, aside from the holes that the latter were full of.

As they were leaving the shop, the shopkeeper added something. "Now, a warning."

"_Now_, a warning?" Yami asked incredulously.

The shopkeeper smirked. "I'd be careful if I were you...some gang calling themselves Muscle Hunters is going around stealing rare shoes."

"Rare _shoes_?" Yami said. "No way..." 

"I can handle _anything_!" Joey proclaimed, marching out the door. Well, skipping out the door.

"Oh man." Tristan buried his face in his hands. "He has to stop that."

Yami tried not to cringe. "Even little kids don't skip like _that_..."

Because of the skipping, Yami and Tristan were keeping an embarrassed distance from Joey, which proved to be bad five minutes after they had left the shop.

The sound of running footsteps suddenly drowned out the beat of the skipping.  Suspicious, Tristan turned around just in time to get whacked in the gut with a wrench by a guy in a bandanna.

"Tristan!" Yami cried, and was then lifted off her feet from behind by another punk. "Hey! Let me go!"

But Yami and Tristan weren't really the ones in trouble. Two more hoods had dropped a tire over Joey's head, effectively trapping his arms at his sides. "What the _hell_?!?" Joey yelled.

There were four of them in all, two on Joey, and one each on Tristan and Yami. Yami elbowed the one holding her in the stomach and he dropped her, wheezing. Yami would reflect later that she must have made him mad because he pushed her hard into the side of the nearest building. Her head hit the brick with a loud _crack_ and she stopped fighting, dazed.

Tristan had no weapon. He tried to drive a fist into Bandanna's gut, but a few good whacks with the wrench to his shoulder left his arm numb and gave an opening for the punk to hit him in the face.

It didn't matter anyway, because the ringleader was already prying the Air Muscles off Joey's feet. He was grinning, showing a mouthful of broken teeth. "No offense, but these shoes are too good for you, you know?"

The one who had pushed Yami was chuckling. A white ski hat was pulled over his eyebrows "You can walk home in your bare feet!" he called over his shoulder as they jogged away.

By the time everyone could get up, they were gone. Yami and Tristan pried the tire off Joey. 

"Yo...you guys okay?" Joey asked dizzily.

"Ow, ow, _ow_," Yami whimpered, clutching her head. "Is it bleeding?"

"It must have been those Hunters!" Tristan deduced. 

"I didn't even have the Air Muscles on for two blocks!" Joey mourned, looking at the holes in his old socks.  Remembering that was a petite female in the group, he turned quickly to Yami.  Wouldn't do to get his best friend killed before the semester ended.  "Does it hurt bad, Yami?"

Since Yami was the only girl and petite besides, the boys were overprotective of her. Tristan helped her up, one hand under each arm. "You okay, kiddo?"

"I'm sorry I got you both into this," Joey apologized. "Yami, can you get home alone?"

"Home? Alone?" Yami was puzzled. "What about you and Tristan?"

"I want my sneakers back!" Joey said.

"And I owe those guys a beating!" Tristan said, pumping his fist into the air like a drum major. "We're gonna get _revenge_!"

"Not without me, you're not!" Yami pointed to her head. "I want a piece, too!"

"You sure that's not the head injury talking?" Tristan chuckled.

Yami shook her chocolate-vanilla head. "Nope. This is all fists. We'd better hurry if we want to catch those jerks."

The boys grinned at her. "All right, let's go!" Joey agreed.

"Way to be tough, Yami!" Tristan added appreciatively, nodding at Yami as if he were pleasantly surprised that she wanted to come along and hand out beatdowns too.

They took off running in the direction the Hunters had gone. The search led them to the arcade. It didn't take long to spot the Hunters crowded around a game.

"Let me do the talking," Joey said, leading the way. "You guys just stay in the background and look menacing."

"Uhh...Joey?" Yami asked. She didn't need to finish the sentence.

Joey rethought his words. "Okay. Tristan, you stay in the background and look menacing. Yami, you...you glare as hard as you can."

Yami frowned.

"Yeah, like that!" Joey coached, and Yami sighed and shook her head. 

Joey walked up to the game and tapped the ringleader on the shoulder, surprising him.

"Whoa, man," the kid said, holding his hands up in front of him.

"Whoa, nothing," Joey said. "We ain't cowards. We come from the front!"

"If I remember correctly, you tough guys and Strawberry Shortcake over there didn't do so well in the last fight!" the one in the ski hat sneered.

Quick as a striking snake, Yami reached out and seized the boy by his ski hat, slamming his head down onto the machine's console. The screen blinked "Game Over, Insert Coin" over and over again. Groaning, he lifted his head, blood flowing down his face. "You broge my node!"

"The chick's hurting him!" another yelled, starting out of his chair. 

Joey and Tristan were equally stunned, but they were smart enough not to say, Golly gee whiz, how'd she do that in front of the bad guys? 

"Um, feel free to jump in at any time, guys," Yami prompted. 

"Oh, right!" Joey and Tristan each took a swing at the other punks, as if it had been choreographed. This time it was the gang that was unprepared. Joey in particular took delight in kicking them in the face with his dirty socks, a fate Yami and Tristan wouldn't have wished on their worst enemy.

"You shouldn't have picked a fight with us!" Tristan threw a right hook that connected solidly with Bandanna's jaw. Yami had kicked Ski Hat's stool out from under him and was now standing on his chest, grinding her heels into him.

"I want my friend's sneakers back!" she demanded.

"We dun habe 'em!" Ski Hat puffed, holding one hand to his smashed nose.

"Who does?" Yami said, keeping one foot on his chest and pressing the other almost delicately to his cheek, pushing his face to the floor.

"The shobkeeber pays us 3000 yen abiece ebery dime," Ski Hat wheezed. "Get the fuck offa me, Shortcake! I dun habe your friend's fucking sdeakers!"

Yami's eyes went wide as she stepped off the boy's chest. _The shopkeeper? That CHEAT--he's been swindling people! He knew how much Joey wanted those sneakers. He took Joey's money and had us beaten up! Oh, I could just....!_

With a sudden leap, she took off for the back door of the arcade, leaving Ski Hat huffing and puffing on the floor, relearning how to breathe.

"What's going on here?" the arcade owner yelled. Everyone froze. Joey dropped the kid whose collar he'd been yanking, and Tristan crawled out from beneath a pile of punks.

"Come on, man, let's go!" Joey said, hauling him up. The arcade owner was busy yelling, "I'm gonna call the cops on you punk kids!"

"Go, go!" Tristan and Joey sprinted for the front door.

"You okay?" Tristan puffed, once they were outside. 

"Yeah," Joey answered. "What about you, Yami?"

No answer.

Tristan blinked, looking around. "Hey, Yami?"

They were alone. Joey glanced back towards the door of the arcade. "Yami! Where are you?"

"Is she still in there?" Tristan asked. "She was kicking butt. Did you see her?"

Joey nodded absently. "She was pretty mad when she heard what the shopkeep did."

Tristan looked worriedly at Joey, but shook his head. "Nah," he said. "You don't think...you don't think she'd..."

"Oh, crap!" Joey answered. "C'mon, we gotta go help her."

**

"I love these fanatics," the shopkeeper murmured. "All for a pair of sneakers. What morons." 

"Takes one to know one, pal," a voice answered, flowing like dark water from the doorway.

The shopkeeper turned to see the small girl who had accompanied the blond boy who bought the Air Muscles to the shop before. "Hey, look at the sign, girlie. We're closed."

"Not for me, you aren't." The girl strode into the shop, her walk free-swinging and confident. "I know that you paid the hunters to steal my friend's sneakers back. You will give them to me now."

The shopkeeper's eyes widened behind his sunglasses. He looked at the sneakers in his hands. "Uh, how did these get here?! Of course, take them! They're yours!" Fumbling for the string around his neck, he quickly slipped the scorpion into one shoe without the girl noticing, this time for real. He held the sneakers out to Yami, smirking. _Take them, girly girl. All you'll get is a poison sting!_

Yami's small fist moved closer to the shoes, and the shopkeeper waited impatiently for her to touch them.

Except she didn't. Opening her fist over the sneaker with the scorpion in it, she dropped a handful of coins into the depths of the shoe. They clinked.

"What did you do that for?" the shopkeeper asked, angry his plan had been foiled.

Yami smiled silkily. "It's a game! Just like your test of courage!" She pointed to the shoes. "Only this time there _is_ a scorpion in that sneaker!"

So she had seen after all. The shopkeeper frowned. _What's with this brat?_

"It's a really easy game, so I'll only explain once and hope you get it. We'll take turns pulling coins out of the sneaker and hope your scorpion doesn't sting us! Whoever gets the most coins wins."

The shopkeeper snickered. "Okay, but if I win, you owe me 100,000 yen for each coin!" 

Yami frowned. "What is with men and their money? Very well. But if _I_ win, all I need are these sneakers back. I don't gamble...with my money." She grinned wolfishly, small full lips skinning back from her teeth. 

The shopkeeper's smirk faded at the sight of the sneaker, hiding death in its darkness. Yami was impatient.

"Getting cold feet, tough guy? Then I'll go first." Yami reached her tiny hand into the sneaker, and the game began.

The shopkeeper took a coin next, sweating. "That scorpion wouldn't bite the hand that feeds it!"

"We'll see who gets bitten." Yami slid her hand almost delicately into the sneaker, but her red eyes were slightly nervous.  She removed a coin, sighing softly.

The shopkeeper's eyes were also nervous, but his sunglasses hid the expression from Yami.  _I've got to figure out a way to wring some money from this kid._ "I'm getting nowhere, one coin at a time," he mumbled aloud, and Yami shook her dark head.

"I wouldn't talk lightly of nowhere.  Death waits in that sneaker, and it hears you."

The shopkeeper missed Yami's point entirely, but the mention of death had given him an idea.  "Hey, girlie, I got a question for ya. As long as I reach into the shoe for the coins, anything goes, right?"

"Correct," was Yami's answer.

The shopkeeper grinned. "Good! Then this goes too!" Suddenly brandishing a knife, he plunged it into the sneaker where he thought the scorpion might be, the blade slicing through the laces and biting into the front of the shoe. "I can take all the coins at once!"

"By Ra!" Yami said angrily. "Am I the only one who doesn't carry a knife?"

"Pay up, chickie!" the shopkeeper demanded.

Yami shook her head, waving a finger back and forth admonishingly. "You haven't won until you take your hand out of the sneaker, greedy man. And is the scorpion truly dead?"

A skittering sound made the shopkeeper freeze. He tried to pull his hand out of the sneaker, but the fistful of coins was stuck in the shoe, trapped, perfect prey for...

Yami smiled silkily. "In the Shadow Games, those with weak hearts always lose."

**

Tristan and Joey sprinted back to Junky Scorpion, the napkin map forgotten. The glass door of the shop blinked alternately red and white. 

"An ambulance?" Tristan asked.

"Oh, crap!" Joey repeated. "Yami!"

"Joey!" Yami answered from the curb. She was sitting placidly in front of the shop, Joey's sneakers in her lap.

"Yami!" Both boys ran towards her. 

"Are you okay?" Joey demanded.

"You shouldn't have run off like that!" Tristan said.

Yami had the grace to look embarrassed. "Sorry I worried you."

"You should have waited for us," Joey said. "We were gonna kick the guy's ass!"

"Well, _nobody_ got a chance to kick his ass," Yami said, pointing to the ambulance. "Apparently, his scorpion didn't like the way it was being treated before. It stung the owner! They're taking him to the hospital!...But look!" Yami smiled proudly, holding up the shoes. "I got your sneakers back."

"I'll be damned," Tristan said with a smile.

She pouted suddenly, looking down at the shoes. "I don't know why, Joey, but there's a _hole_ in these sneakers..." 

Joey smiled down at his best friend.  "That's okay, Yami. We can think of it as a battle scar! Thanks for getting 'em back."

"Yeah, you did pretty good today," Tristan said, offering his hands to the still-seated Yami. Pulling her to her feet, he couldn't resist adding, "Shortcake!"

Yami punched him in the shoulder. "You are gonna get such a beating."

Tristan shook his head. "No, no, Yami, check out the right way to punch," he coached, taking Yami's fist in his larger hand and guiding it through the motion of a right hook. "You gotta follow _through_." 

"Seriously, Yami," Joey asked. "You really did a number on that guy in the arcade. Where'd you learn to do that?"

Yami just shrugged and smiled. "When you're small, you get picked on a lot. A hundred and twenty pounds isn't a lot of muscle to throw around. You have to make up for it somehow."

"We'll help you make up for it," Tristan said. "I'll show you the Tristan Taylor Touch of Death!" He crooked his fingers menacingly at Yami. "You know, for next time."

"Next time?" Yami asked hopefully. 

"Yeah, next time," Joey said, "only there isn't gonna _be_ a next time, since these shoes are never leaving my feet!" He jogged ahead, leaving behind an embarrassed Yami and Tristan.

"He's so sleeping with those shoes on tonight," Tristan sighed, shaking his head.

"It could be worse," Yami said. "He could be _skipping_."

**

**Author's Note:**

Yayyyy! I love writing things! *is dancing again.*

Hope this was a good one…but stay tuned, _next_ chapter is when things start to get _really_ interesting!


	4. A Stroke Of Luck

**Author's Note:**

Now to introduce the man who's easily my favorite character into the story: the one and only Seto Kaiba.  Kaiba is beautifully, woefully tragic, and a genius to boot.  I just had a discussion with a good friend about knowledge--knowledge is power, but power corrupts.  Therefore, the smarter you are, the greater inclination you'll have towards evil.  So we really shouldn't be mad at Kaiba for what he does.  The gorgeous beast can't help it.  

Explain that to Yami-Girl, though…or don't; she'll probably just fall asleep.

**

**Chapter Four, Ninth Duel: A Stroke of Luck **

**

_You say that you'll be there to catch me _

_Or will you only try to trap me? _

_These are the rules I make _

_Our chains were meant to break _

_You'll never change me _

_Here comes the cold again _

_I feel it closing in _

_You're falling down and _

_All around me falling _

_Stroke of luck or gift from God? _

_Hand of fate or devil's claws? _

_From below or saints above? _

_You come to me now..._

(A Stroke of Luck)

(Garbage)

**

Seto Kaiba was half-asleep in the back of his limousine. His limo was his sanctuary, his safe place, his private bubble where the world could not touch him. The leather seats were always cool and inviting, the partition dark and protective. The tinted windows turned the brightest morning to cool twilight.

That was how he liked it.

He was on his way back to Domino High School after a month away, outfitting a company known as Industrial Illusions with holographic technology for their founder's greatest creation--a card game known as Duel Monsters. Kaiba himself was a champion at the game, good enough to compete on the national level. He wished he could find the logic in having to go to school even though he was already CEO of his own company, KaibaCorp.

The roads shimmered with water from a rain he'd just missed. A particularly large puddle always collected in front of the bus stop, something Kaiba loved to gloat about from the safety of his limo. As the limousine turned the corner, only a few people were waiting at the stop, Domino High School uniforms milling around and blurring together in Kaiba's tired vision. 

A girl with hair the color of dark chocolate was standing at a comfortable distance from the others, headphones clipped over her ears, lost in her music. She was staring into a middle distance, so she didn't see the limo turning the corner, and therefore didn't have enough time to jump back before the wheels splashed water all over her uniform jacket--which was blue, Kaiba noted, like the boys' uniforms, not pink, like the girls'. 

"Hey!" she squealed, and he was close enough to hear it through the closed windows before the limo purred away from the curb, leaving her sodden and dripping on the sidewalk. He chuckled at her soggy outrage, but was suddenly interrupted by the sound of something shattering perilously close to his ear. He instinctively ducked and covered his head, glass raining down on him from behind. A large rock bounced onto the leather seat beside him, surrounded by shards of what had once been his rear window.

"Mr. Kaiba!" his driver barked, slamming on the brakes. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Leo," Kaiba reported, twisting around to look out the ruined rear window. He saw the brunette girl sprinting from the middle of the street towards her waiting bus. Leo was already out his door, waving his fist in her direction and yelling, "Hey! Hey, you! You little _bitch_!"

"She threw a _rock_ at me," Kaiba muttered.

"What should we do, Mr. Kaiba?" Leo asked, getting back into the limo.

Kaiba waved his hand dismissively. "The window can be fixed. I'm going to be late for school. Just keep driving."

"Yes, sir." Leo started the car again, and a cool breeze kept Kaiba awake for the rest of the drive, which annoyed him. Jet lag was still with him, and the dark interior of the limo was the perfect lair for sleep. He had no idea how he was going to stay awake through an entire day of classes. School was such a pointless activity. Why did he even bother going back?

It wasn't like anything ever changed.

**

He heard the whispers as soon as he walked into the hallway.

"It's Kaiba!"

"Hey, Kaiba's back."

"Did you see that Kaiba's back in school?"

When he walked into the classroom, Ms. Chono shook her blonde waves of hair over her shoulder and gave him a smile that would have melted a lesser man into his socks. He glared at her and moved to his seat at the back of the room, across from that blond waste of skin, Joey Wheeler. Wheeler's wood-brown eyes narrowed at Kaiba from beneath his shaggy yellow bangs as Kaiba walked down the aisle.

Chono began to take roll. "Mr. Kaiba, nice to have you back with us," she said as she looked at him. Kaiba nodded politely.

"Yeah, if by nice, she means, awful," Wheeler chuckled.

Kaiba snarled at Wheeler, but a shout from Miho Nosaka interrupted them. She was looking at someone in the doorway.

"Eeewww!" she cried. "What happened to you?"

To Kaiba's surprise, the brunette girl from the bus stop tramped into the room, water still trailing from her hair and spotting her uniform. Now that he could see her up close, he could see that her hair wasn't just dark chocolate. A roof of vanilla-blonde bangs framed her face and called attention to her admittedly stunning eyes. They were slightly slanted, framed by dark lashes and could only be called...red. She was wearing the blue uniform jacket meant for the boys to wear, and she had the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. Around her wrists were two thick black cuffs, and they matched a buckled belt around her neck.  A large pendant held pride of place on her chest--it was shaped like a pyramid and hung from a cord, also tied around her neck. 

Even dripping wet, she was kind of pretty. 

_It's not like I care_, Kaiba told himself.

"Yami Motou, what happened to you?" Chono echoed. "You're a mess."

"Some rich jerk in a limo splashed water all over me at the bus stop!" the girl named Yami pouted, her full lower lip dipping slightly.

"Oh, man!" Joey said. "What'd you do?"

Yami grinned wickedly, looking suddenly proud of herself despite her sodden appearance. "I--"

"She threw a rock and broke my rear window," Kaiba announced loudly, folding his arms over his chest.

The girl's crimson eyes widened as she saw Kaiba sitting in the back row. "You? You're the one who splashed me today?"

"And you're the one who broke my window," Kaiba retorted.

Tristan chuckled in surprise. "You really pitched a rock at his window?"

Yami frowned. "I was _aiming_ for his _head_," she said dangerously, glaring at Kaiba.

"Oh, I'm so frightened," Kaiba deadpanned. "What are you going to do, kick me in the kneecaps?"

"You want to start something?" Yami challenged, advancing down the aisle with a hip-swinging walk that was totally at odds with her school uniform.

Kaiba stood up, drawing himself up to his full six feet two inches. He smirked at Yami and held his hand about half a foot above her dark head. "Sorry. You must be this tall to ride."

Yami bristled, but Chono interrupted. "Both of you, stop it! Kaiba, _sit down_. This is no way to start your first day back. Yami, if you don't want another detention, you'll hold your tongue."

"Kaiba?" Yami whispered to Joey as she sat down in front of him. "As in, KaibaCorp?"

"As in CEO," Kaiba answered, having overheard. "You might want to think twice before throwing any more rocks."

Yami pouted, turning towards the front. "I can't believe I missed."

**

Kaiba hated watching videos in class. He couldn't read with the lights out like that. The chairs weren't comfortable enough for sleep. Nothing else to do but find a source of distraction. He looked around the room.

Joey Wheeler was leaning over the back of his chair and snoring--audibly. Kaiba couldn't tell for sure, but he might have been drooling. How revolting. Meanwhile, Tristan Taylor was making goo-goo eyes at Miho Nosaka, who was drawing hearts in the margins of her notebook. The goofy, dreamy look in Taylor's mahogany eyes didn't match his latest haircut; the sides were buzzed so short as to be practically nonexistent. Miho gave no notice of Taylor's devoted stare; the yellow ribbon around her pale ponytail waved in time with her scribbling. Ms. Chono was reapplying her makeup at the front of the room, focused intensely on her compact as if it were her gradebook. 

Finally Kaiba's eyes rested on Yami Motou, who was looking sleepy and bored in her chair. She was writing on her hands with a purple pen; if Kaiba leaned forward a bit, he could read what she was writing, since she was sitting with her body turned sideways.

_Send me the rough draft_

_I'll seal it with tears_

_Maybe you'll read it and I'll reappear_

_Like Saturday night I'll be gone before you knew that I was there._

That was written on the left hand. Kaiba frowned, watching the hand sway back and forth as Yami scrawled on the right. The song was "Rough Draft" by Yellowcard--he had their CD; they were playing Warped Tour this summer. 

Kaiba felt his teeth grit. How dare she like the same music as he did! He didn't want to have anything in common with the little runt.

Maybe the right hand was something girly and popular that would assuage his fears. He casually leaned closer as Yami switched hands, displaying the right one to Kaiba's view as she colored in an ankh on the left.

_The needle on my record player has been wearing thin_

_This record has been playing since the day you've been with him_

_No more long rides home, no more of your station_

_I didn't like it anyway_

Kaiba was livid. A New Found Glory. He'd missed their only local concert six months ago because he'd had too much work to do.  He hoped Yami had missed it as well, just for spite's sake.  Luckily Yami was decorating her hands with ankhs and swirls and tiny hearts, effectively negating the angsty lyrics, which made Kaiba feel better.

Still...if she listened to New Found...and the way she'd snarled at him this morning, without a care as to who he was...

She wasn't important, he tried to remind himself. She was just a girl, a girl who'd made his entire morning miserable.

_A girl who challenged you,_ his mind argued. _A girl who could be your equal._

_I have no equal!_ he thought back, sweeping the argument away. The thoughts were interrupted by a swirl of chocolate hair. Kaiba realized that Yami had turned around, and was staring back at him.

**

Yami didn't give a damn about the Japanese version of "Macbeth". In any language, she found the story to be one of the worst in history. Everyone in it was stupid.

She could feel someone's gaze resting on her and snuck a peek back to see Kaiba staring at her. She glared, and he shifted his gaze.

_What a jerk_, she thought absently, watching him sit--well, sitting was probably the wrong word. _Lounging_ was probably a better description of the graceful slouch that had him draped all over his chair.  In the stingy light, his hair was the color of caramel in shadow, and Yami couldn't help but wonder if it was as soft as it looked. Some of it was hanging just over his blue eyes, which were hooded by thick dark lashes, completing the picture of a boy who was bored to death.

Yami looked down at the spots of muddy water still dotting her white blouse and blue jacket.  _Jerk, jerk, jerk_, she reminded herself. _Splashing water on me, being so mean..._

Again she felt the press of eyes on her back. Whirling, she saw slits of ice narrowed at her from the back of the room. Feeling her own eyes narrow, she gave in and turned her body a little in her chair to meet those steely eyes with a bloody gaze of her own. Seto Kaiba may have been a jerk, but he was a hell of a lot more interesting than the Japanese "Macbeth".

**

Kaiba spent the rest of the day compiling a mini-dossier of information on the little red-eyed upstart. He was surprised at what he found.

Yami Motou had only been in school a little over three weeks, but she was already quite the name in Domino High School. The first day, she'd stood up to the hall monitor, Ushio, who hadn't been doing so well since. She'd also managed to help foil an expulsion in progress by the Wicked Witch of Expel, something that had never been done before. 

So now the two stooges, Joey Wheeler and Tristan Taylor, had a new accomplice. Ms. Chono's makeup couldn't hide the dark circles under her eyes.

Another weird fact was that Yami Motou was never seen anywhere without that strange pendant of hers. It looked Egyptian and complemented Yami's bronze skin and odd coloring. Kaiba couldn't really say anything about that, though--he wore a pendant as well, a locket, and never left the house without it. It was shaped like a playing card from the Duel Monsters game he was so fond of, and inside it was a picture of the most important person in his life--his younger brother, Mokuba.

Kaiba clicked open the locket as the last class of the day wound to a close. Seeing his baby brother's violet eyes and easy smile under his wild black hair always made the elder Kaiba stronger.

_It's all for you, kid. As long as you're around, dragons don't scare me and I can forgive the horrors of school._

It was only when the bell rang that he wondered if Yami's pendant was special to her, too.

**

"Hello, kids," Sugoroku Motou said cheerfully as Yami and Joey tramped into the Kame Game Shop. He always liked to have Yami and her friends around the store--there was never a dull moment. "How was school today?"

"Turned my hand green in chem." Joey waved a stained hand at Sugoroku. "Check it out, Gramps."

Sugoroku grinned. "A definite improvement over last week's pink!"

"You're telling me!" Joey chuckled, slapping the old man a high-five. 

"What about you, honey?" Sugoroku turned to Yami, his gaze fixing pointedly on her hands. "I see that a film was shown in class today."

Yami laughed and held up her ink-stained hands. "Yup. Hey, Grandpa, guess who's in our class at school? Seto Kaiba, the CEO of KaibaCorp."

"I hate that stupid jerk," Joey fumed. "He thinks he's so much better than everyone else."

Sugoroku chuckled and turned to take a box off the shelf. "Maybe this will cheer you two up. I just got a game in today--the one that's such a hit in America." He handed a few cards to Yami and a few to Joey. "It's called Duel Monsters."

"Cool. Some of this art is really nice!" said Yami, hopping up to her usual perch on the counter and looking through the cards. They had pictures of whimsical creatures painted on them. "I like this one." She held up a card with a picture of a monstrous winged skeleton on it, grinning out from the card, which read "Summoned Skull" above the picture. "He looks strong!"

"How do you play with these?" Joey asked.

"You play with two players, right Grandpa?" Yami asked. She turned to Joey. "You each stake a card on the match, and whoever wins gets to keep both."

"That's right." Sugoroku displayed a few more cards on the counter. "The game is set up so that the players are both wizards. They use their cards to cast spells or summon monsters to fight!" Sugoroku pointed to a monster card, a robed skeleton that read Skull Servant. "The cards have different attack and defense strengths. The first player to lose all their life points loses the game."

"Cool," said Joey. 

"That sounds like fun!" Yami said, flipping through more cards. "Any dragons in it?"

Sugoroku chuckled. "As a matter of fact, there are quite a few, but one outshines the rest, and this old man is fan enough to have one!" He reached beneath the counter and showed them a card. "This card is my treasure!"

The card was of a white dragon, poised to attack, jaws gaping to show razor teeth. Its visible eye was the blue you could only see at the exact moment of dawn, when the night left the sky. "Blue-Eyes White Dragon", the card proclaimed.

Yami's pink lips parted in a small o. "Oooohhh...he's beautiful!"

Sugoroku's eyes were a darker, nightsky version of Yami's red, and they gleamed with pride. "This is the Blue-Eyes White Dragon! It's so overpowered that they stopped production, and now it's ultra-rare. Collectors would pay through the nose for one of these!"

"Woah," Joey said appreciatively. "I feel like I'm wasting a fortune just _looking_ at that thing!"

"Can I hold him?" Yami reached gentle hands for the card and held it carefully, tilting it in the light, and then she gave it back to Sugoroku.

"Let's play Duel Monsters at school tomorrow, Yami!" Joey decided.

"Okay!" Yami agreed happily.

The little bell above the door rang, signaling a customer.

**

It was getting late, but Kaiba didn't want to go home. Mokuba would be there, anxious to hear about his day, and he hadn't the heart to tell the little boy that it had been awful...again. Kaiba knew his unhappiness bothered his little brother, and he tried his hardest to keep as much pain from Mokuba's life as he could. 

Now he was just walking the streets. Carrying his briefcase full of rare cards, Kaiba decided to check out a local game shop to see if there were any new Duel Monsters cards he didn't have. After this awful day, didn't he deserve a few lousy cards?

The little bell above the Kame Game Shop door rang to announce his entrance, but the sound was drowned out by Joey Wheeler's loud voice. "I need some cards, Gramps! Gimme a pack with plenty of strong ones!"

The owner of the shop, an older man with grey hair peeking out from under a bandanna, chuckled. "You can't tell until you open the pack!"

"I didn't know you played Duel Monsters, Wheeler," Kaiba said, stepping up to the counter. "I'm sur--huh?" He gasped, seeing someone sitting on the counter, bronze legs dangling. Her white knee socks were uneven, and her black ankle boots were knocking against the counter. She was still wearing the blue coat of the school uniform, which caused her vanilla bangs to stand out sharply and her crimson eyes were smiling. Kaiba felt his teeth grit. "_You_!"

Joey grinned at Kaiba's discomfort.

"Hello there," the old man said to Kaiba, his mauve eyes twinkling beneath his grey brows. "I'm Sugoroku Motou. Welcome to my shop."

Kaiba nodded politely.

"Have you met my granddaughter?" Sugoroku asked kindly. "Yami, where are your manners?"

"I don't know," Kaiba said. "_I_ haven't seen them all day."

"Shut the hell up, Kaiba," Joey snarled.

"No bloodshed in my shop, please," Sugoroku chuckled. "Yami, were you causing trouble again?"

"No, Kaiba's right. I was rude today, and I want to apologize," the girl named Yami said, extending her hand to Kaiba, who was surprised. "No hard feelings?"

Kaiba's smirk slashed his face. "You may be new around school, but you'll soon learn I'm the king of hard feelings." It was the girl's turn to look surprised, and she retracted her hand, looking a little embarrassed. 

"You play Duel Monsters, Kaiba?" Joey attempted. "We were going to play at school tomorrow. Want to join in? I'd love to kick your ass."

Kaiba snorted. "You actually think you're in my league, Wheeler? Let me see your cards."

Joey handed them to him, and Kaiba gave them a once-over before laughing scornfully and tossing them back at Joey. "Please! You could never win against my deck with cards like these! Playing you would be a complete waste of my time. I'm good enough to compete at the national level!"

Joey bristled, and Yami held him back. "Kaiba, could you at least _pretend_ to be nice? Joey, calm down..."

Joey snarled. "Wouldn't lose in a _fight_..."

Kaiba ignored them both and focused his attention on Sugoroku Motou. "I might be persuaded to buy. Do you have any good cards he--" The question was halted as Kaiba saw a card sitting on the counter. "It can't be! The legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

Sugoroku was too fast for Kaiba--he snatched the card off the counter and laughed. "Do you like it?"

"Where'd you get it?" Kaiba asked desperately, placing both hands on the counter. "What's it doing here? Let me have a look at it!"

Sugoroku grinned. "Just a look."

Kaiba handled the card delicately, reverently. _I've never even seen this...I never thought I'd actually hold one...it's a level 8 card...its attack and defense are through the roof...it's incredibly rare! If I owned this card...I'd be INVINCIBLE!_

He was so awed by the card's splendor that Sugoroku easily plucked it out of his hand. "Okay, look's over."

Kaiba immediately slammed his briefcase down next to Yami on the counter. She gasped as he flicked open the catch and the lid flew up. 

"If you give me that Blue-Eyes White Dragon," Kaiba said, "I'll trade you all of these cards!"

"My, my," Sugoroku said. "That's quite an impressive collection."

"Wowza!" Joey said in awe. 

"A whole briefcase full of cards! Holy moly cow!" Yami leaned over the case. "Look at all these monsters--whoa baby! Look at this guy! The Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon!" 

"Is that good?" Joey asked.

"You bet!" Yami said. "He's got twenty-eight hundred attack points!"

"I guess two heads _are_ better than one!" Joey grinned.

Sugoroku laughed at them, still holding the card out of Kaiba's reach. "I'm sorry. It's a generous offer, but no deal."

The peanut gallery--Yami and Joey--was even more surprised. "Gramps turned him down? Double wowza!" Joey hissed at the same time Yami said, "Holy macaroni!"

Kaiba glared at them. "Apparently, the supply of geeky catchphrases is inexhaustible." His eyelid twitched and he turned back to Sugoroku, who obviously knew what the card was worth. "No matter what?" he asked.

Sugoroku shook his head and smiled. "Kaiba, isn't it? I know why you want this card so much. However, I have a good reason to hold onto it...it's not just because it's a strong card."

Yami leaned forward to hear the story, kicking her feet happily. Even Joey looked interested. 

"An important gamer friend of mine from America gave me this card. This card is as important to me as my friend! I could never give it up! It's the same with common cards. If you really treasure something, it grows a heart of its own, just like this card!" Sugoroku smiled down at the Blue-Eyes White Dragon in his hand and patted the briefcase. "You would never trade anything for that heart! So take good care of each and every card in this trunk, Kaiba! Then you'll find the true strength of this game."

Kaiba tried hard not to growl. "Fine." He snatched the briefcase off the counter and stalked out of the shop, the bell voicing its pain. He heard their conversation as he left. 

"Wow, Gramps, great speech!" Joey cheered.

Yami laughed. "Even without using a rare card, Grandpa has never lost a duel!"

**

When Kaiba opened the front door of his mansion, he was greeted by the sound of pounding footsteps before he was attacked by a waist-high ball of black hair that locked its arms around him. "_Seto_! You're home!"

Kaiba smiled and ruffled the wild black hair. "Hi, Mokuba."

"How was your day?" The dreaded question. 

"All right," he lied. "How was yours?"

"Had a pop quiz today," Mokuba sighed. "Were you nicer today like I asked you to try to be?"

Kaiba decided to sidestep the question. "As a matter of fact, there's a new girl in school. She and I had quite the exchange today."

Mokuba saw right through him and smiled sadly. "You ticked her off."

"So much that she threw a rock through my rear window," Kaiba admitted with a chuckle.

"Maybe she likes you," Mokuba said hopefully.

"I seriously doubt that," Kaiba sighed. "At least I hope not. What a strange girl she is. But I found a new game shop today," he added with happy inspiration. "You'll never guess what I saw."

"What?" Mokuba asked, taking his brother's hand as they walked into the dining room. 

"A Blue-Eyes White Dragon."

Mokuba's violet eyes went wide as he took his seat beside his brother. "Noooo way! Seto! Did you buy it?"

Kaiba frowned. "Unfortunately, it wasn't for sale. But don't worry, kiddo," he said with a slight smile. "I'll get it."

**

And so Kaiba sought out Yami Motou the next day at school, visions of white dragons dancing in his head. Luckily, Wheeler and Motou stuck out like thumbs. Sore ones.

Someone yelled, "Damn! I'm out of life again!"

"_YAY! I WON!_" someone else yelled, and Kaiba saw two small fists jab into the air, thick black cuffs buckled around the matchstick wrists. It could only be one person, he thought darkly, but manufactured a smile quickly as he approached the table where the two were playing Duel Monsters, just as Wheeler had said they'd be.

"Kaiba," Yami said, surprised, chocolate hair swirling just above her shoulders, straight as rain.

He rigged the tight smile on his face. "It's fun to watch you playing!" he chuckled.

Yami smiled up at him in a friendly way, red eyes twinkling. "Want to sit down?"

"No, thanks, I'll just watch. By the way," Kaiba said silkily, "do you have the Blue-Eyes White Dragon card with you by any chance?"

"How'd you know?" She blinked innocently up at him, still smiling. "I begged Grandpa to lend it to me just for one day! Had to promise not to play with it though."

"Could you show it to me one more time?" Kaiba asked. "Ever since yesterday when I held that card, I've been so excited I couldn't even sleep! And...well...what your grandfather said yesterday made me realize what it means to love the cards!"

Yami bit the bait. Hard. Her eyes sparkled and her smile filled them. "Okay, then, I'll show it to you!"

"Mmm..." Kaiba purred when he had it in his hands. "It _is_ a beautiful card!" _Little does she know she'll never touch it again..._

It was true that Kaiba hadn't been able to sleep the night before, but he'd spent all that time making a plan.  He reached stealthily into his pocket for something--a color copy of a Blue-Eyes White Dragon he'd made from a catalog.  Making the switch, he handed the copy to Yami. "Thank you, Yami. I appreciate this." _More than you'll ever know, you red-eyed dope..._

He smiled into Yami's innocent grin. "Have fun with your game, Yami."

She nodded, looking down at the copy in her hand.

**

Kaiba chuckled as he left the school building. _There is NO way I'm going to lose at the next tournament. Seto, you genius..._

"Kaiba!" a small bell-like voice called, and he turned to see Yami Motou running towards him, pendant glittering as it bounced around. She skidded to a stop in front of him, chest heaving beneath her tight white blouse from the effort. Kaiba watched the way her breathing moved her for a second before calmly bringing his eyes to her flushed face. 

"Are you on your way home, Yami?" he asked, trying for normalcy.

Yami looked sad. She pressed her pink lips together, then said, "Kaiba, please give my card back."

Kaiba's blue eyes widened.  _So she knew._

Yami pressed one foot delicately in front of the other. "I didn't want to say anything about you switching the cards because everyone was watching and I didn't want to embarrass you..."

"So you think I _stole_ your card?!" Kaiba said angrily, desperate to cover up. "I gave it back to you!"

Yami rolled her eyes. "I know you played me for a fool, but I didn't think you thought I was _that_ much of a fool. Even I can tell the difference between a copy and the real thing. Please give it back."

Time to go. "I know nothing about it," Kaiba said, enunciating every word so that she might get the idea.

Yami's eyes were bloody red. "You _must_ know! You have to know how important that card is to my grandpa! If I don't keep my promise and bring his card back, I'll break Grandpa's heart!" Her hands were curled into fists and pressed to her chest, her color hectically brilliant. "He's my _family_. I can't betray him!"

Kaiba chuckled, running a hand through his hair. "Oh, come _on_. Before you start complaining about your grandfather, why don't you try believing your friend?"

Yami frowned darkly, sadly, dark brows dipping on her bronze forehead. "You are not my friend. You lie to me. You steal my grandfather's card, and then you treat me like an idiot. You are no friend of mine, Seto Kaiba!"

Kaiba growled. "Shut _up_." And he reached for her, threading fingers through her hair to pull her nearer, lifting her at a painful angle. She gasped, and Kaiba stared into that flushed, warring face. They were so close that a sharp breath would have made their lips touch. "I do not care," he hissed, breath mingling with hers, "about 'loving the cards' or stupid things like that. And I do not care about _you_. Tell the old man this, and you remember it well for yourself. It's not how you play the game. It's whether you win or lose. And I have won."

With that, Kaiba tore his hand from her hair and stalked off.  She didn't chase him, but she did call after him, her voice as chilling as if she were laying a curse on him.

"I will teach you a lesson, Seto Kaiba! And when I'm done, I will take Grandpa's card, his heart, _back_!"

_I'm shaking, Yami_, he thought. _Come and get me._

**

Mokuba Kaiba was playing a video game in the den before supper. "No, no, no!" he said as his character careened towards oblivion. "Nononono--arrrgh!" He dropped the controller as the death music played on the screen.

The telephone rang, interrupting his mourning. Jumping up from his seat on the floor, he ran to answer. "Hello, Kaiba residence, Mokuba Kaiba speaking," he answered politely, just as Seto had taught him to.

"Hellooo," a sleepy female voice purred. "I'm looking for Seto Kaiba. May I speak to him, please?"

A girl's voice. Mokuba blinked violet eyes as he thought it over. No one ever called Seto, not here at home, anyway. But he'd mentioned a girl last night. The boy grinned to himself. It would be good if his brother made some friends, got out more. He spent way too much time with his technology, in Mokuba's opinion. But Seto was so stubborn...he said he and this girl had had a disagreement. Maybe he wouldn't want to talk to her...

"Who shall I say is calling?" That was another thing Seto had taught him to ask.

"This is Yami Motou," the girl on the other end of the line trilled. "It's _verrrry_ important that I speak with Seto Kaiba. Won't you please tell him I'm on the line?"

She sounded like she really wanted to talk to Seto. Mokuba made his decision.

"I'll get him. Will you hold on, please?"

"Certainly. Thank you," the girl purred. "What's your name again, sweet heart?"

"Mokuba," the boy said. "Mokuba Kaiba. Seto's my big brother."

"Well! I didn't know he had a brother. It was nice speaking with you, Mokuba," she said.

_She's nice_, Mokuba thought as he brought the cordless phone to his brother's study.  _Someone so nice wouldn't be mean to Seto..._

**

The drapes in Kaiba's study kept the offending daylight at bay, and he held court from the leather chair behind the cherry wood desk. Right now he had the Blue-Eyes White Dragon on his desk, simply staring at its splendor.  _Mine. And now I'll be unstoppable. No one in the WORLD will be able to beat me..._

The door squeaked open to reveal Mokuba, his eyes shining from beneath his black hair. "Seto. The telephone is for you. It's a _girl_," he said, grinning.

"A girl?" Kaiba took the cordless phone from Mokuba's reaching hand.

"I'll leave you alone," Mokuba said cheekily, running back out into the hallway.

Confused, Kaiba brought the receiver to his ear. "Seto Kaiba."

"Hello, Kaiba," a voice like dark chocolate answered. "Remember me?"

Kaiba felt his teeth grit as if he'd heard nails on a blackboard. "Yami Motou? I thought I told you to leave me alone."

"Nothing doing, hon," came the answer. "You've got my grandfather's heart, and I want it back."

"I'm not interested in collecting hearts," Kaiba said. "Just cards. And I already told you I don't know anything about your grandfather's card. If you were careless enough to lose it, don't blame me."

A soft laugh sparkled over the phone line. "Me? Lose it? I admit a lot of things fall in my camp, Kaiba, but I would never lose something so important to my grandfather. No, it's you who has been careless."

"Me?" Kaiba was somehow glad the drapes were pulled-something about her voice was making him nervous. He was safe in here... "How have I been careless?"

"You've made me angry," was the answer. "And hon...you wouldn't _like_ me when I'm angry."

"I don't like you to begin with," Kaiba snorted. "What do you want from me?"

"I want my grandfather's Blue-Eyes back."

"For the last time, you brain-dead munchkin, I don't have your grandfather's Blue-Eyes." If she asked one more time, he was going to hang up in her face.

"Don't lie to me, Kaiba. Lying to me tends to go badly." She sighed, and changed tactics. "If you won't give me the card back, I'll just have to win it from you, then."

"Win it from me?" In spite of himself, Kaiba was intrigued, and sat forward a little in the brown leather chair. "You actually think you can win it from me?"

"Those are the rules of Duel Monsters, correct? Each player stakes a card on the match, and the winner keeps both?" she asked.

Kaiba had to laugh. "You actually think you can beat me, the national champion, in Duel Monsters? You're crazy."

"So I've been told," was the amused answer. "Do you play, Seto Kaiba? Or are you a coward?"

Kaiba's laughter stopped abruptly, as if a switch had been thrown. "You ought to know that I'm anything but."

"Prove it to me, hon. Let's play a game," Yami challenged in a velvet voice meant for breaking hearts, not starting fights. "You will let me in tonight, and we will play, and when I leave I will take back my grandfather's card--his heart."

"Why you arrogant little..." Kaiba snarled. "Fine. I'd love to trounce you in a game, Tiny Bubbles. Come to my mansion at midnight. I'll even leave the gate open for you, and tell the guards to let you in. Bring your cards and a box of Kleenex--you'll need it when I hand you a crushing defeat."

"We'll see who weeps, Kaiba. See you later." A click and a buzzing sound replaced the soft dark voice on the line.

Kaiba began compiling a strong deck out of cards from his briefcase.  _Well, well. Who'd have thought the bitch could bite? See you at midnight, Yami Motou..._

**

The night guard on the Kaiba property was bored as hell. He didn't understand why the young millionaire needed such tight security. No one would dare to try and break into th--

"Good evening, sir," a voice trilled from the driveway, and the guard flung his dirty magazines away, startled. He saw a girl standing before the gate, which was open and swinging back and forth in the night breeze. She was dressed all in black, and her chocolate hair was soft against the dark of her clothes, even in the serious moonlight.

"How the hell did you get in here--?" the guard sputtered, getting to his feet.

"Seto Kaiba left the gate open for me," the girl said smoothly, stepping silently towards him on booted feet with two-inch heels. "He and I have an urgent meeting, and he is expecting me. He told me you would let me in to see him."

The guard remembered Mr. Kaiba's very specific instructions for tonight. _"I have a visitor coming at midnight. You are to let her in and not ask any questions. Tell her I await her in the poolhouse."_

It sounded shady to the guard, but orders were orders. "Mr. Kaiba is waiting for you in the poolhouse. Walk around the house to your left and you won't miss it."

"Thank you," the girl said, and started walking. Then, suddenly, as if struck by an idea, she turned around and smiled silkily at him. "You did not see me tonight."

The guard watched her walk around the house, and when she disappeared, he picked up his dirty magazines again, as if she had never been there. He blinked suddenly, hearing a creak. "How did the gate get open...?" Walking towards it, he locked it firmly. No one was getting in tonight--or out.

**

Kaiba was walking out towards the poolhouse. It was the most private place on the property--he didn't want to risk waking Mokuba, no matter how big the mansion was, and he didn't want any interference by the guards. The dark hid his smirk as he walked around the massive swimming pool and flicked on the lights--

--to find two chairs and a card table set up already, and someone perched on it.

"There you are," Yami purred, legs crossed, elbows propped on one knee, hands laced together. "I was beginning to think you would stand me up."

"How did you--?" Kaiba shook his head. "Never mind. Let's get this over with."

Yami chuckled and uncurled herself from her sitting position, hopping off the table. "What's your hurry, Kaiba? Didn't anyone ever tell you not to rush?" 

She walked around the table, giving him a better view of her. She was wearing what looked like a black tube top, except that two thin straps stretched from the gathered front to tie around her neck. Three chains were clipped to the belt loops of her tight black jeans, stretching around one side of her waist and jingling as she walked. Golden bangles climbed her wrists, also clinking against each other. It was a good thing he'd told the guards she was coming--she'd never have sneaked past them in that getup. Her pyramid pendant was, as always, around her neck. Black boots completed the outfit, and her hair was a brilliant contrast of light and dark, falling just above her bare bronze shoulders. 

Stalking around to the opposite side of the card table, Yami pressed both hands to its smooth surface and leaned towards Kaiba, giving him an excellent view of small but beautifully shaped breasts beneath the black tube top. Forcing his gaze to her face, he could see that she had three holes punched in each ear, hoop earrings marching up the lobes. The first hoops had tiny ankhs dangling from them; the others were plain. "Are you ready?"

Kaiba felt his smirk curl his lips. "Moreso than you. You have no idea what you're getting into, Hot Pants," he said. "I can't believe _you_ challenged _me_ to a game of Duel Monsters."

"It matters not what you believe," Yami said, taking a seat at her end of the table. "Here are the cards, and here you are, and I am ready to play."

"Then let's start." Kaiba sat across from her and shuffled his deck.

She waved a finger admonishingly at him. "Once again you rush. This game will be a bit different from what you've seen before, and I haven't explained the rules yet."

Kaiba gave her a withering look. "I think I would know the rules better than you. I'm going to be a whole hell of a lot harder to beat than Joey _Wheeler_."

"Have it your way," was Yami's answer as she shuffled her own deck. "You insist on learning everything the hard way."

"I like it the hard way," Kaiba answered, narrowing his blue eyes at her.

She smiled remotely. "Funny," she murmured. "So do I." Shaking whatever thought she had away, she placed her deck down. "Life points at 2000. Whoever reaches zero first loses. Each deck has forty cards. We will see who is the better sorcerer."

"You bet we will." Kaiba drew his hand and smirked at the first card.  _Five stars--the Ryu-Kishin Gargoyle! You're going down, Yami Motou!..._

He laid the card face-up in front of him, displaying the statistics of the monster--attack 1000, defense 500. "For my first play, I summon the Ryu-Kishin Gargoyle!"

The table shook a little. Kaiba looked at Yami. "Stop that."

"Stop what?" And her bangles clicked as she held her hands up, displaying open, empty palms to him even as the table jumped again.

"That--" Kaiba began, but a wisp of smoke startled him. He looked down at his card, and suddenly the gargoyle rose from it in a wave of dawn-grey smoke, its wings unfolding as it came to life on the table!

Kaiba didn't even try to hide his surprise. "The card! The card came to life!" He looked at Yami, whose slanted red eyes were calm as silence as she drew a card. A smile curled her full lips. 

"I told you this game was different," she warned again, displaying her card to him. "Now, it's my turn, and the card I choose to stand against your gargoyle's attack is this one! The Blackland Fire Dragon!" She placed the card face-up on her side of the table, and just as with the gargoyle, the dragon seemed to almost climb out of its picture, curls of smoke escaping its nostrils and a growl escaping its parted jaws. It flapped its wings once or twice as if it felt good to be free, then stared at Kaiba with obsidian eyes.

Yami stroked a hand down the dragon's small head. It and the gargoyle looked like large toys in front of the players. "Isn't he cuddly?" Yami purred. "And oh so loyal." She pointed across the table. "Now, my dragon! Use your flame breath and roast that gargoyle!"

The dragon obeyed, stretching flat on the table and opening its small but mighty jaws wide to breathe a cloud of fire at the Ryu-Kishin. Kaiba glanced at the card across from him. The dragon's attack points were 1500, more than enough to beat the gargoyle.

"Damn!" he hissed, then blinked. "The card that lost is disappearing!..."

It was true. The gargoyle was fading away in a puff of grey smoke that was drifting back into the card it had sprung from as the dragon turned its nose up and trumpeted a victory cry. The smoke cleared to reveal Yami's smiling face across the table, arms folded to cradle her breasts. "Those are the rules in the Shadow Game version of Duel Monsters," she explained. "The monsters from the cards become real...and a penalty game awaits whoever loses!"

**

**Author's Note:**

And so, on one not so very special day, the brilliant dance begins.  

The Japanese version of "Macbeth" as I saw it was entitled, "The Cobweb Castle".  Now _there's_ two hours of my life I'll never get back.  Is it right for a college professor to block the door so his students can't leave?

Yellowcard did indeed play Warped Tour this summer, along with just about every other band I love, but I unfortunately did not get to see any of them, because I ended up giving my ticket to a friend.  No, I was not happy about the fact that I didn't get to go, but Yellowcard is one of my friend's favorite bands.  She did get the lead singer to sign her arm.  At least one of us was happy.  *shrugs.* So, I did a good deed and got to experience the feeling of giving.  

Feels a lot like an ulcer.

So the lyrics in that particular section of the chapter were pretty much just me licking my wounds.  Or making Kaiba do it. *smiles.*

Next chapter: The first climax between Yami and Kaiba, only not the fun kind.  


	5. After, In The Dark

**Author's Introduction:**

So, here they are, for the first time.  Sailor Moon had her Queen Beryl, Bart Simpson had his Principal Skinner, and…Yami and Kaiba are just stuck with each other, it seems. *chuckles.* The clash of duelists continues, so get your popcorn:

**

**Chapter Five, Tenth Duel: After, In The Dark**

**

_La vatda rah ruena _

_La sdatda rei rueno arda vannarew _

_Nur une lu doo anmy yendy lue on _

_Nur lyela un sorlai _

_Dar shut ray ruena dennay _

_Dar lat a mueha vatky arch sadadie _

_Gunner aiya e undu et suinan lo _

_Nur lyela un sorlai _

_Oh dohaddy_

_I've been waiting for you..._

_I've been waiting for you..._

_I've been waiting for you..._

_(If in this world _

_there were no such things as words..._

_Even though I could have dismissed _

_such a hunch as just an inconvenience _

_I may lose you _

_so saying, life became hard _

_like a baby, if you cry _

_everyone would turn around once _

_so I would do that. _

_I`ve been waiting for you, _

_I`ve been waiting for you, _

_I`ve been waiting for you, _

_I`ve been waiting for you, _

_even though we`ve been separated far apart.)_

(After, In the Dark)

(Macross Plus)

**

Yami smirked at Kaiba as she made a note on a scoring sheet at her side. "Your life points have dropped from 2000 to 1500, Kaiba. I'd be careful if I were you--as punishment, the loser will know _death_ in a penalty game!"

"Know...death?" Kaiba swallowed hard, unable to stop the lump from forming in his throat. He stared at the girl across from him. She stared back, her eyes bloody beneath her dark hair, the vanilla bangs framing her bronze skin with light. Beautiful, deadly, waiting, waiting for him. And her dragon sat before her folded arms on the table, as obedient as a fire-breathing kitten. Waiting.

_I've been waiting for you..._

_I've been waiting for you..._

_I've been waiting for you..._

Kaiba laughed, a joyous chuckle spilling from his lips. "This...is good."

For the first time tonight, Yami looked a bit confused, dark brows meeting over her red eyes. "What?"

"I said, this is good," Kaiba repeated. "I'm glad I took your challenge! This is the extreme game I've been looking for!"

Yami had recovered herself by now. "Then take your turn."

"Didn't anyone ever tell you not to rush?" he teased, drawing a card. Chuckling, he tossed it almost carelessly onto the table in attack position. "Well, well. Will you look at my _Battle Ox_?" He leaned forward eagerly to watch the card take form, and the ox brandished its axe. "It's got 1700 attack points and 1000 defense points. It's one of the strongest beast monsters, and it's about to slash your dragon to ribbons!"

Yami gritted her teeth. "My dragon's attack and defense are lower than your monster's."

"Exactly! You strike back in vain!" Kaiba snickered like a comic-opera villain as the Battle Ox swung its axe in a mighty downward stroke, severing the Blackland Fire Dragon's head. "And you lose 200 life points."

Yami pouted, looking cagey as she drew her next card. She placed it in defense mode. "I summon the Mystical Elf, in defense mode. Her attack points are only 800, so I'll use her 2000 defense points to guard my life points."

The Elf swirled into being on the table, and Kaiba could hear her chanting a soft spell in the quiet of the poolhouse, surrounded by a halo of her own radiance. Kaiba's lips twitched into a smirk. "Very smart, Yami. The Mystical Elf's defense beats my Battle Ox's attack by a safe margin. If I attack, I'll just hurt myself, so I'll put my Ox into defense mode as well." He turned the card with his index finger. 

"A stalemate," Yami observed softly over the quiet chanting of her Elf. 

"Not for long," Kaiba countered as he drew a card. "Well, well. I'll save this for next turn." He placed it face-down on the table, and Yami's reaction was exactly what he wanted. Her eyes flickered with worry as she drew her own card.

"Skull Servant," she announced. "In defense mode."

Kaiba chuckled. "Very well, since you can't do anything else. Now it's my turn, and I play this magic card on my Battle Ox!" He flipped his face-down card up to reveal its picture to Yami. "Giant's Might! This will raise the Ox's points by 20%!" He chuckled, grinning evilly down at the Ox. "Now, _grow_!"

Yami's eyes widened, gold-tipped lashes touching her skin all around as the Battle Ox roared, power filling it. 

"Its attack points are now 2040, higher than your stupid Elf's defense!" Kaiba announced. "Battle Ox! Attack the Elf! Off with her head!"

The Mystical Elf shrieked as the Ox's axe struck. Yami could only watch helplessly with fearful eyes as the Ox mowed down her Skull Servant as well, scattering bits of bone all over the table. Kaiba laughed scornfully. "No matter what card you draw, my minotaur will hack it to bits!"

Kaiba was right. Regardless of what cards Yami drew, what moves she made, the Battle Ox destroyed one monster after another. Her red eyes remained wary, slightly panicked, the color of a bad moon rising as she feverishly drew and flipped cards. Her golden bangles shivered as her hands jumped from deck to hand and back again. 

Kaiba folded his arms over his chest, looking as contented as if his smirk were closed around a canary. The girl across from him was now little more than a shuddering, trapped animal. She was flushed, chest heaving slightly, small pink tongue flicking out to wet her parted lips as she weighed her dwindling options. It was a vision to provoke to most wanton cruelty in a male heart, this helpless girl, this crushable girl. Her life points were at 500 and she sank a little in her chair as if to feel the corner she was backed into.

"Give up, Yami," Kaiba murmured, almost a purr in the quiet of the room. "Give in. There's no way you can win."

Yami's eyes never blinked as she reached a queenly bronze hand to her deck. She had to know what was at stake as she drew her next card, the one that would decide her fate. She held it for a long time, just staring at the picture, lightly running fingers over it. Kaiba saw for the first time that her fingernails were painted black and gold, to match her jewelry.

Kaiba was about to tell her to just get on with it when she suddenly reflected his smirk, as if he'd looked into a mirror of arrogance.

"Meet my new boyfriend," she said, laying the card almost reverently onto the table in attack mode. Kaiba saw a grinning skull look out from the picture a split second before the monster burst fully formed from the card, spreading ragged wings of dark sinew and bleached bone, a growl trickling fom jaws that death had fixed forever in a smile. "The strongest card in my deck, the _Summoned Skull_!"

Kaiba's eyes shot wide, the whites as empty-colored as the bones that made the monster. "The Summoned Skull!?! The Skull Demon?" He pounded a fist onto the table, making the cards jump. "That's one of the five strongest fiends! How could you have such a rare card?"

"Yeah, he's quite the stud, but he gives me a lot," Yami joked, leaning seductively over the table and the Skull. "I'm very jealous of him, but I think I'll let him kiss your Battle Ox goodbye!" She pointed across the table at the minotaur. "_Lightning Strike_!"

The Skull's attack power was 2500 points, more than enough to wipe out the tricked-out Battle Ox. The Ox roared its pain as the grinning Skull called lightning to its bony fingertips and jolted the current through the beast.

"My minotaur..." Kaiba choked out, watching the smoke clear where his beast had once stood.

Now it was Yami's turn to smirk from the safe vantage point of counterattack. Her jewelry glistened not half so bright as her smile as the Summoned Skull crushed every card that Kaiba drew, and the CEO felt a thin trickle of sweat slide down his forehead as the girl and the demon presided happily over his downfall. 

When Kaiba's life points were at 800, he knew it was time for drastic measures.

"The outcome isn't so clear now, is it, Kaiba?" Yami asked, her red eyes deep and taunting. Kaiba wanted to smash that smile, and in his pocket was the perfect way to do it.

_If things continue at this rate, I'm going to lose_, he realized. 

He remembered Yami's cry of surprise as the limo splashed past the curb, drenching her...

_I KNOW my deck has cards that can beat the Summoned Skull, but the odds that I draw one in the next turn are pretty low..._

Yami's angry, tear-filled eyes as she spoke of her grandfather's heart, of the ties of family.

_But there's one sure way to win this duel_, Kaiba thought.  _It isn't in this deck, but of course I brought it with me._

_"The needle on my record player has been wearing thin..."_

He shook the thoughts away.  _No. The girl doesn't matter.  This is about the win.  And this game's rules went out the window when the cards started coming to life. Time to show the girl who's the real champion._

He smiled at her, the easy smile he'd shown her earlier in the day, watching her duel Wheeler. "I have to say, Yami, you're pretty good! I didn't think it would be this close. You ought to enter the next tournament! But...this is as far as it goes." He slid the card from his pocket and palmed it to make it look like he'd drawn it from his deck. "I've got a special card I've been saving for just this eventuality, and that card is..."

He slammed it down onto the table, revealing its splendor. "The _Blue-Eyes White Dragon_! The rarest card on earth!"

Yami actually jumped out of her chair, starting forward, both hands on the table. "The Blue-Eyes! My grandpa's card!" she cried as the dragon pulled away from the card, shrieking with how it felt to be free. It gleamed in the dim light, its blue eyes fixed on Yami.

"You're wrong, Yami! This is my very own card! I just happened to get it from someone!" Kaiba chuckled madly. "This is _so_ cool!" 

"Someone like _me_, you mean!" Yami said angrily, sitting back down. Her red eyes glittered with unshed tears. 

"Your Summoned Skull's attack power is 2500!" Kaiba said, trying to get her focus back on her impending defeat. "My Blue-Eyes White Dragon's is 3000! The difference is 500 points...which just _happens_ to be all you have left, Yami!" He grinned at her. "That would leave you with..._zero_."

Yami steeled herself, gripping the edges of the table, whether in fear or to stop herself from leaping for him, Kaiba didn't know. Tension sang through her slim bare arms. 

"Go, Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" Kaiba announced with great pomp. "Finish her!"

But the dragon didn't move. It fluffed at the air with its wings, hovering above its card prison, blue eyes intent on Yami, who slowly let go of the table. Even when her hands were in plain sight the dragon didn't attack. It remained floating harmlessly above the table, tilting its pristine white head to one side like a questioning bird.

"What?" Kaiba growled. "Why don't you attack?"

Yami smiled sadly and reached past her Summoned Skull, which was still standing like a sentinel, waiting for orders. Yami's bronze hands were gentle as they stroked beneath the Blue-Eyes' mighty jaws. "Kaiba, you still don't understand the true meaning of this game. This card will never attack me, because your _soul_ isn't in this dragon."

"Soul?" Kaiba asked. "What are you talking about?"

"I can see it," Yami murmured, almost to herself, as she leaned forward over the table. Her red eyes were hooded and dreamy as they met the dragon's blue ones, and it made a questioning sound at her. "I can see the soul of my grandpa behind these blue eyes!"

The dragon turned away from Yami, ducking its head low, and she took her hands back as the white skin flickered a bit in the stingy light.

"My Blue-Eyes!" Kaiba choked. "It's...it's _disappearing_!"

It was. The dragon seemed to collapse in on itself, blinking out like a bad television picture, and then it was simply gone. "No!" Kaiba whispered.

"You still don't get it, do you?" Yami asked, shaking her dark head, a little to the right, a little to the left, the straight hair brushing just above her bronze shoulders. "To my grandpa, that card was much more than a collectible. The dragon may have been fated to destroy, but its loyalty lies with Grandpa's soul. It chose to destroy _itself_ as the only way to fulfill its duty."

"_That_," Kaiba said through gritted teeth, "is impossible! There's no way that _cards_ can _think_!"

"I believe it's my turn," Yami said, calm as the sea. "As you can see, I've been keeping this magic card face-down, but I'd like to use it now." She flipped the card to display an ankh that matched the ones dangling from her ears. "_Monster Reborn_!"

For the first time since the Blue-Eyes had appeared, she allowed the tiny smirk back onto her lips. "What monster do you think I'll revive, Kaiba? Three guesses--first two don't count!"

Kaiba had to shield his eyes a little as the Blue-Eyes White Dragon reappeared over the table-on Yami's side. He knew it was crazy, but it looked almost happy to be there, and its razor jaws seemed to mirror her smirk. 

"_White Lightning_!" Yami cried, and Kaiba had no defense against the dragon's attack.

"No!" he growled above a sudden wind that accompanied the dragon's lightning blast. "I lost..."

"That's right," Yami's voice came above the roar. "And now for your penalty game!"

Kaiba didn't know if she was smiling when she said it. Indeed, he couldn't see her at all. The poolhouse was gone, the dragon was gone, Yami was gone. There was nothing but white light and the dragon's shrill trumpeting shriek of victory, and Kaiba had to squeeze his eyes shut against the brightness, unable to stop tears collecting at the edges of his lids from the pain of seeing. He tried to throw an arm over his face to shield it, but he had no arm, no way to protect himself. No self...

When he could feel arms, legs, hands, eyes again--and that was only by realizing that they all hurt--he realized he was lying on dirt. The back yard? He lifted his head slowly, unable to stop the landscape from sliding down his vision in waves of color.

"Oh..." he groaned, dizzy. What had happened?

He realized that he should have been staring at the poolhouse, but there was no poolhouse. In fact, this place wasn't his property. He got to pins-and-needles feet unsteadily, looking around at a dark horizon and air full of mist. "Where...?"

With a sickening shock, he realized, somehow, exactly where he was. It was a world his mind spent a lot of time in--the world of Duel Monsters.

"How...?" he began to ask the empty, misty air, but was cut off by a roar. Whirling, he saw the gaping jaws of Yami's Blackland Fire Dragon, dripping and poised to kill as it reared above him, far too close. The heat of its breath was as real as life, as real as...death...as it advanced closer and closer.

Seto Kaiba discovered he did have arms this time, flinging them up to protect himself. And a voice, to scream, because he knew it would not help.

**

In the dim light of the poolhouse, Yami Motou looked at two cards in front of her on an otherwise empty table for one.

One of the cards was the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, gleaming with pride in its painted stance, forever poised to attack, a vision in pure white and brilliant blue. Yami ran gentle fingertips over the picture, feeling its reality beneath her hand.

The other card held quite a different picture. A boy, with hair the color of caramel in shadow, with ice blue eyes gone wide in shock as his hands fled to cover his face, eternally too late. The card's name was scrolled just above the picture. 

_Seto Kaiba_.

Yami took only the Blue-Eyes White Dragon with her as she rose from the table gracefully. "Kaiba...you will probably experience death in that world..." she murmured to the other card, which still remained on the table. "But don't worry. It's only a nightmare...only an illusion." She stroked her fingertips lightly over the picture, just as she'd done to the Blue-Eyes. "This is my wish--that by becoming a card, you will come to understand the _heart_ of the cards. Then, just like my grandpa, you'll become a true gamesmaster!"

She walked around the table to the door of the poolhouse, letting herself out into the night. "As for you," she murmured to the card in her hand with a smile, "I'll return you to Grandpa. Then you'll be happy, and he'll be happy." She stretched slim bronze arms above her head, to the ink-dark sky that only the three o'clock hour knows.

"And so will I..."

**

Seto Kaiba woke with a start. "No! No..."

His back hurt, and his eyes felt like he'd slept with shards of glass in them. He realized that his cheek was pressed not against dirt and rocks, but against the cool surface of a table. He'd tipped forward from a sitting position, his arms stretched above his head, fingers grasping for...something. His duel deck lay scattered on the poolhouse floor, as if it had been knocked off the table.

_Did I dream the whole thing?_

When he was sure he could get up without falling, Kaiba dropped to aching knees and picked up the cards, rifling through them. The Blue-Eyes White Dragon was gone.

"You were here," he murmured aloud, needing to hear his own voice, to hear the words aloud. He spoke not of the dragon, but of the girl. "You were here. You were real, I didn't dream it..."

Fatigue was replaced by confusion, by panic, and Kaiba realized that not only could he walk without falling, he could run. Slamming open the poolhouse door, he ran across a yard bathed in early morning light. How long had he been asleep? Where was Yami?

Sprinting towards the gate, he was greeted by a rather surprised guard. "Mr. Kaiba! Are you all right?"

"I'm alive, aren't I?" Kaiba snapped. "You can see me...can't you?"

The guard's brow crinkled as he took in Kaiba's tousled caramel hair, his wrinkled clothes, his pale and panicked face. "I can see you, sir. Are you sure you're all right?"

"Don't worry about me," Kaiba said dismissively. "Where's the girl?" The guards should have detained Yami, should have asked her questions. If they hadn't, he was firing everyone and getting better security. No, something that would simply electrocute an intruder, yes, that would be--

Irrationally, he remembered the Summoned Skull's demon lightning in a flash of memory.

"Girl?" the guard asked, as if Kaiba had spoken in tongues.

"The _girl_," Kaiba snarled. "I had a visitor last night, a girl. The girl who came here last night."

"Oh, you mean the brunette, sir." The guard smiled with memory.

"_Yes_." Kaiba's voice was flat with the effort not to scream. "Did you see her leave?"

Suddenly the guard's face stilled, his eyes going empty as they stared into a middle distance. "I remember nothing," he said absently.

"_What_?" Kaiba asked incredulously. This was too weird. First Yami had turned his duel upside down, cards had come to life, then there had been a crazy dream that made no sense, and now nobody seemed to know what the hell had happened in the interim period. 

Everyone was _so_ fired, his dizzy brain insisted, focusing on subjects he could deal with.

The guard blinked like a waking sleeper, then turned. "Mr. Kaiba. Can I help you with anything?"

"No. Go back to what you were doing." Kaiba had already seen that it was pointless to question the man further. He stalked to the security office and began rewinding the tapes till he found one of Yami walking away from the house, calmly. The counter at the bottom of the screen read 3:18 a.m. Kaiba twisted his wrist to look at his own watch. 6:45.

He paused the video and zoomed in on the still to see her smile, assuredly, confidently, her eyes still managing to look mysterious and enigmatic even in grainy black-and-white.

"Who _are_ you?" he asked the picture, but it gave no answer.

**

Study hall could be likened to any other class at Domino High, except that Chono wasn't trying to teach while everyone did something else. Today she sat at the front and redid her nails, causing everyone in the front row to gag from the scent of Sally Hansen's Hard as Nails topcoat.

Tristan Taylor was once again mooning over Miho Nosaka, who was busy writing a note--(_Hey Sakura can you see what's up with Tristan Taylor? He's staring at me_)--and Yami and Joey were busy playing tic-tac-toe on each other's hands. After losing for the eighth straight time, Joey leaned forward to whisper in Yami's seashell ear.

"What's with Kaiba? He looks like he's seen a ghost!"

Kaiba was a twitching, shuddering wreck. He was trying to read, but his bloodshot blue eyes kept sliding over the same paragraph again and again. His caramel hair was tousled and there were dark smudges under each eye. 

Yami kept sneaking peeks back at Kaiba, but the CEO's eyes scanned warily back and forth like radar. He looked as though he kept expecting her to pull a dragon out of her compact or something. His teeth grit every time she looked his way, until finally he couldn't stand it any longer. He slammed his hands angrily down onto his desk and stalked to the front of the room.

"Ms. Chono, I want a pass. I'm going to the library," Kaiba growled.

"To finish your nap?" Wheeler snickered. "Take a rest, Sleeping Beauty."

Kaiba glared at him, but Yami interrupted sweetly. "Yes, Kaiba, how _have_ you been sleeping?"

The dream flashed back to him--the realm of the Duel Monsters, the chase, his...death. He _knew_ she had something to do with it, but would never be able to prove it. He growled softly at the sight of that sweet, knowing smile, the same as it was on the security video.

In the library, he hid amidst the stacks and relished the silence ringing through his ears. Finding a dog-eared book, he looked up "yami". 

"_Dark_," was the explanation beside the word. "_Darkness_."

Remembering Yami's shoulder-length hair flickering, light and dark, in the night breeze as the dragon attacked...remembering those blood-red eyes as they sealed his fate...Kaiba could almost believe it.

**

**Author's Note:**

Mmm…Kaiba! 

I'd like to ask everyone to please excuse all my musical references, but music is one of my favorite things in the whole world.  I can't do anything without including it! I realized something I didn't include in either of the last two chapters, although there's a piece of it in both: the title of the song that first got me into punk music--"Hit Or Miss", by A New Found Glory, who will always have the "a" as far as I'm concerned, even though they broke my heart. *smiles.* As people and things will sometimes do…


	6. Faith

**Author's Introduction:**

Before I start this chapter, I want to make something clear.  There was a reviewer who seemed offended by the title of this story--"The Weaker Sex"--because she didn't think being a girl made her weak.  Of course it doesn't! I'm a girl, too, and I don't think that either! I'm the strongest person I know! *smiles.* 

I want to make it perfectly clear that that's _not _what I meant at _all _by the title.  It's supposed to be a joke--many people refer to females as "the fair sex" or "the weaker sex", and being female, I know that it's simply not true.  I like the idea of the pun in the title "The Weaker Sex" because while the character of Yugi, bless his little heart, is a bit of a pushover before his alter ego takes control, Yami-girl is busy kicking ass.  *grins.* The idea is that the title's so obviously wrong--she isn't weak at all.

My sincere apologies, in case anyone else was offended.  Maybe now it's clear?

Okay! On with chapter six. *smiles.* One of my favorite things about the "Yu-Gi-Oh!" series is the theme of friendship.  Sure, painful beatings are a regular occurrence in Domino City, but it's always nice to see friends going up to bat for each other.  That's what real friends do.

After all, if you can't get the stuffing beaten out of you in defense of a friend, when _can_ you get the stuffing beaten out of you?

**

**Chapter Six, Eleventh Duel: Faith**

**

_With a little more faith I could keep myself together_

_With a little more faith_

_With a little more faith _

_With a little more faith I could keep our love together_

_With a little more faith I could wake up and face the day_

(Faith)

(Tori Amos)

**

"If all you have is a hammer, every problem is going to look like a nail." 

(Massad Ayoob)

**

Sugoroku Motou chuckled as his granddaughter hopped down the stairs in one shoe and one sock. 

"Grandpa!" Yami yelled, half of her shoulder-length brunette hair still up in the pigtails she'd been sleeping in. "Where's my—"

Sugoroku smiled and handed Yami a black ankle boot. "Here you go, honey. You'd better hurry, or you'll miss your bus!"

"Don't worry, Grandpa," Yami assured the old man, hopping across the room on the booted foot while tugging on her other shoe, a toothbrush stuck in her mouth. "Euffichuff fuff."

"What was that now?" Sugoroku asked, arranging a game of _senet_ on display. 

"I said, everything's fine," Yami said, brushing out the remaining pigtail till her hair swirled above her shoulders. "I won't be late! And even if I am, Joey'll probably still be outside!"

Sugoroku chuckled. "I'm glad you made friends so quickly, Yami. You actually look like you're going to school in the morning, not to war."

Yami grinned, stroking the Millennium Puzzle around her neck—which she had put on before putting on her shoes or brushing her teeth—and winked at her grandfather. "Well, I had a little help."

And with that, she threw the shoulder strap of her black satchel over her shoulder and jogged out the door. "See you later, Grandpa!" The bell jingled and Yami's dark hair shimmered behind her as she ran.

"Have a good day, honey," Sugoroku called after his granddaughter, settling down with the morning paper.  The headline read, "New Tomb Found in Egypt".  A picture of the pharaoh's mummy was blown up beneath the headline, along with a picture of the two archaeologists responsible for the find.  "Domino University Archaeological Team Discovers Tomb From New Kingdom Era, (1580-1314 BC)".  

"Well, I'll be damned," Sugoroku chuckled, recognizing one of the archaeologists.  Yami would get a kick out of it when she got home.  But for now, it was only a news story, and that brunette was on her way to more immediate problems.

**

Every morning, it was the same thing. Get up, alarm clock, lip gloss, matching socks. Down the stairs, front door, side streets, bus stop.  Step off, court yard, home room, finally arrive at her desk in front of—

—"Joey?" Yami asked, blinking crimson eyes at the empty chair behind her own. She looked around the room, hoop earrings jingling beneath her straight chocolate hair. "Joey...?"

No sign of her tall blond friend. Yami wilted a little beneath her blue uniform jacket, brows drooping slightly at the thought of spending a whole day without Joey to talk to...or hang around with...or make fun of the teachers with...or...

This was going to be a very bad day.

"Hey, Shortcake," Tristan said, locking his arms around Yami's waist from behind and picking her up. "What's new?"

Yami giggled. "Put me down, Tristan."

Tristan growled in a poor Godzilla imitation and was about to carry Yami across the room when he suddenly dropped her in an ungraceful bundle onto the floor. "Hey, where's Joey?!"

"Hey!" Yami piped up from the floor. "Tristan! What's the big idea?"

Tristan dropped to his knees beside her, his mahogany eyes as dark as a tomb and even more serious. "Sorry, Yami, but have you seen Joey?" he whispered urgently, breath stirring her vanilla bangs.

Yami's eyes widened, and she shook her head, earrings shivering against her hair. "No. I haven't seen him all morning. Is he sick? This is the first time he's missed school since I've been here."

"This is the first time he's missed school, _period_," Tristan said, pulling Yami to her feet. "Something's gotta be wrong."

"Are you sure?" Yami asked uncertainly, glancing at Joey's empty desk. "Maybe he's just sick..."

"Joey could be dying, and he'd still come in to school," Tristan said, shaking his head. "No, something's wrong. Will you come with me to his place after school? I know where he lives."

"Sure," Yami said, patting the tall boy's arm gently. She had never seen Tristan so worried—his dark eyes glittered and his stance was closed-off. "Don't worry, Tris. We'll get to the bottom of this."

"Right now we've got bigger problems," Tristan grumped, folding his arms as the bell rang for homeroom. "How are we going to reenact this month's _Naruto_ in chem with only two shinobi?..."

**

That afternoon saw Yami and Tristan walking down a dark, quiet hallway. The wall-to-wall carpeting was the color of grave dirt, and the brass nameplates at the side of the doors had turned aqua with age. The plate next to the door of the last apartment on the third floor was scuffed and almost unreadable, but "Whe...r" was visible.

Tristan knocked politely with his knuckles. Yami shifted her weight from one foot to the other. There was no answer, so Tristan knocked loudly, with the side of his fist. "Hello?"

Still no answer. Yami moved around Tristan and clasped a hand over the brass doorknob so it was hard to notice the contrast of gold on gold. She jiggled the knob, the sound almost too loud in the empty hallway, and to the surprise of both teens it turned. "Hey," Yami whispered. "It's open. Maybe we should take a peek...?"

"Yeah," Tristan breathed. "We'd just be looking..." He pushed the door slightly open and peeked inside the dark apartment. Yami ducked under his arm so she could look too—

—and a shattering sound froze them both as a bottle flew in a graceful arc across the entryway and smashed against the door, bleeding beer onto the carpet, walls, and doorframe.

"Eep!" Yami yipped, swallowing her pulse and huddling under Tristan's arm. The door ricocheted back with the force of the bottle's impact, and as it opened wider a pair of dusty work boots could be seen propped on a Formica kitchen table. More of the burgundy bottles were scattered over the table and on the visible floor. The smell made Yami's tiny nose wrinkle. 

The boots shifted with a slithering sound, and the voice of a dormant beast flared out into the hallway. "Hey! You brat! Where ya been the last two days!" The angry words were marred by occasional hiccoughs.

In the time it took Yami to get very very nervous, Tristan had grabbed her hand and sprinted down the hallway, so fast that the small girl's feet barely touched the floor. Grave-dirt carpet and dusty walls flew by in a blur until they were back out into the harsh afternoon sunlight, huffing and puffing.

"Was that...?" Yami panted, chest heaving, thin shoulders shuddering. 

"Yeah," Tristan huffed. "That's his dad. He's been like that forever. That's why Joey never has his friends over..."

Yami's eyes went soft as she looked back up at the dim apartment window. _No wonder Joey never misses school. If that were my father, I wouldn't want to be home either._ She placed a hand over her heart and smiled, remembering her grandfather's easy smile and fierce hug. "But Joey wasn't there. His dad said that he's been gone two days. Where could he be?" 

"Only one way to find out," Tristan said.

**

Late afternoon was shading into evening, the sun sliding like a bloody coin across the lion-colored sky, when Yami and Tristan ran out of ideas. Yami kicked a rock dejectedly with the toe of one ankle boot. "No good...he's nowhere!"

Tristan rubbed a hand under his chin, brow furrowing in thought. "Where could he be? We've checked all his usual haunts—the arcade, the mall, the automat..."

Yami hugged herself, even though the evening was warm. "Something's wrong, Tristan, I just know it."

Even though the Junky Scorpion incident had raised Tristan's respect of Yami greatly, she was still a girl, and he felt bad for making her worry. He threw a comradely arm around her, his large hand swallowing her small shoulder. "Hey, don't worry, Shortcake. Joey'll show up tomorrow like nothing's wrong. You'll see. Let's get you home before it gets dark, okay?"

Yami was about to nod when a shout made them both flinch.

"_Hey, man! What's the idea, stepping on my foot? Why dontcha look where you walk_?" A group of punks had a middle-school kid surrounded, and a bespectacled, freckled bully had the boy by his collar. He was flanked by two other boys. Both had brown hair, one dark and slicked down, the other paler, gelled into a crop of spikes.  They were tense, waiting for a fight. Two broad-shouldered boys stood guard, preventing the kid's escape. One had a flattop and merciless slitted eyes; the other was made up of blunt angles, a brown ponytail curling over the collar of his school uniform.

Yami tensed beneath Tristan's arm, and he frowned. "Yami? Something wrong?" He looked over at the group. "Oh. That's Rintama's school uniform. That place is bad news..."

"Yeah, I know," Yami hissed, eyes wide and wary. "Can we get out of here, please?"

Tristan looked puzzled. "You okay? You know those guys?"

Yami sneaked a quick peek back at the Rintama boys. "Not personally, but I don't want to get involved with anyone from Rintama.  I--sort of used to go to school there."

Tristan looked as though Yami had just told him that the moon was in fact made of green cheese.  "You've got to be kidding."

She shook her head, sort of sadly.  "If it makes you feel any better, I hated it there," she offered.

Tristan blinked amber eyes at her, trying to sort through that ridiculousness--Yami Motou in the toughest high school in the area.  "Lucky you came to Domino High this year, then."

"Luck had nothing to do with it," Yami said, her voice flat with self-disgust.  "I got thrown out."

"_What_!" 

And so, for the next quarter hour, Tristan's eyes were wide in a sort of fascinated horror as Yami told the story.  She looked embarrassed, and was finding it hard to meet his amber gaze.  "Yeah.  I used to go to Rintama.  The stories are true--it's pretty rough there.  Since I'm so small, I used to get picked on a lot."

Tristan immediately felt guilty for how he'd treated Yami when she'd first come to Domino High.  He'd seen her as a pushover, an easy target.  The kids at Rintama had probably thought the same thing.

Yami ran a hand through her chocolate hair, sighing, and Tristan tried to think of everything he'd learned about her since they'd become friends.  She loved games.  Her favorite manga was "Naruto".  She'd sold her soul to punk music.  She was loyal to her friends--she'd proven that by standing up to Ms. Chono in his place, and she was proving it again by being so worried about Joey.

"I'm sorry, Yami," Tristan muttered, not because of how she'd been treated in Rintama, but because of how he, Tristan, had treated her.  

Yami didn't understand his meaning, however; she simply waved the painful past away with one hand.  "It's no big deal.  I held my own.  After I beat a few of them, it got better."

Realization came to Tristan.  "That's why you leaned to fight like you did at the arcade, so you'd be good enough to beat them."

Yami nodded.  "I don't think anyone was expecting me to hit back, so it worked in my favor.  Some people decided they just didn't want the trouble.  I still got picked on and had to fight people, but it was less people."

Tristan was trying to reconcile his mental image of Yami "Strawberry Shortcake" Motou with the story she was telling.  "What happened?"

Yami nodded again, ready to tell her story to its end.  "There was a guy who seemed sort of cool.  We cut class one day to smoke.  He got the wrong idea..." She blushed and trailed off, ashamed.  "Let's just say he tried his hand at felony sexual assault."

Tristan got the message, lips pursed in a soundless whistle.  "He didn't...hurt you, did he?" Somehow he couldn't bring himself to say the words.

Thankfully, Yami shook her head no.  "He tore the front of my blouse, that's all.  I sort of hurt _him_, though." Once again embarrassment sat on her brow.  "We both got expelled, him for attacking me, and me for hitting him way too hard."

"_That's_ why you didn't fight Ushio the hall monitor," Tristan concluded.  "You promised your grandfather you wouldn't fight anymore."

Once again, Yami nodded.  "Grandpa never liked me fighting all the time.  That's why he tried to teach me about games and puzzles and riddles--so I'd use my brain instead of my fists.  He said that if all I had was a hammer, every problem was going to look like a nail."

Tristan was impressed, brows arching.  "That's deep." He made a fist and pressed it gently to Yami's jaw.  "Hey, Shortcake.  We don't have to go over there if you don't want to, okay?"

Yami looked embarrassed once again, crimson eyes shimmering.  "I'm sorry, Tristan.  I just don't want things to be the way they were then--I don't want to be that girl again." Yami began to turn her head back towards the Rintama gang as she spoke.  "Nothing could make me go over there, not even--_Joey_!"

The last word was a shout, and Tristan jumped.  "Huh?"

Yami tugged on his sleeve urgently.  "Tristan, it's him! It's Joey!"

Tristan followed her pointing finger to the edge of the group of hoods.  Sure enough, dispassionately watching them kick their fallen target, was Joey.

"What??" Tristan hissed in disbelief.  "Why's he with those punks from Rintama?!"

The large boy with the ponytail--the leader, apparently--was speaking.  "Come on, Joey.  Let's go to our new place.  It's called J'Z.  You'll like it."

"We've got to stop him," Yami breathed, and just like that she was jogging towards the gang, all fear forgotten, as if she hadn't just spent the last fifteen minutes telling Tristan a horror story about her past at Rintama.

"Yami, _wait_--" Tristan grabbed at Yami's jacket and came up with a handful of air.  Too late.

"Joey!" Yami called as she got closer.  "Joey!"

The gang turned almost as one to watch her approach.  "Hey, baby, what's your name?" the one with spikes asked, flicking ash from his cigarette.

Yami ignored him; she had eyes only for Joey.  "Joey! Why'd you skip school? What are you doing with this..._trash_?"

The kid with glasses bristled.  "What'd you call us, sweetheart?"

Yami answered him, but never took her eyes off Joey.  "You heard me.  Now excuse me, I'm trying to talk to my friend here."

Glasses turned to Joey.  "Friend? Do you know Blondie over here, Joey? She your squeeze?"

Joey tossed old-gold forelocks out of his eyes.  "Nah.  Neva seen her.  Let's go."

Yami allowed her surprise to show freely on her face.  "Joey! What's gotten into you?"

The huge guy with the ponytail smirked.  "You're too nice, Joey.  She got any cute friends back at Domino High for me?" He laughed a smoker's laugh and clapped Joey on the back.  Joey's expression never changed.  "You should have come to Rintama with us from the start."

Tristan's teeth gritted at the sight of the boy with the ponytail.  _That's Hirutani! I've seen him with Joey before! Why's he back with him now?_

"_Joey_," Yami's voice was pleading.  "_No_."

"Quit your bitching, Blondie!" Glasses tugged on Yami's hair.  She wasn't in the mood to be teased, however, and retaliated with a closed fist.  Shouts of surprise came from the gang.  Glasses rubbed his cheek with one hand and backhanded Yami with the other.  "Little bitch!"

Yami staggered from the hit, but didn't fall.  Tristan caught her arm, keeping her steady.  

Hirutani thought this was all wonderful entertainment.  "Hey, she fights! I like that!"

Glasses guffawed rudely.  "Who said you could talk to Joey, short stuff? If I ever see your face again you're not going to like what I do to you."

"Shut _up_," Tristan growled.  "You all right, Yami?" He shook her a little.

Yami's crimson eyes were droopy.  Her cheek was already swollen, blood dripping in strings from a shallow cut--Glasses was wearing a lot of rings.  "J...Joey..."

The gang laughed loudly as they sauntered off, leaving Yami in the tender care of Tristan.

"What is _with_ you, Joey?" Tristan snarled to the blond's retreating back.  No answer.

*****

The Ancient Playground was an island of noise in uptown Domino.  The laughter of small children was like a knife through Tristan's head as he held a tissue under the water fountain, soaking it.  Once it was damp, he walked back to where Yami was lying on the side of a pyramid-shaped climbing structure, catching the last of the dying sun, eyes closed in pain.

Tristan pressed the tissue to Yami's bruised cheek.  "Here.  It's all I've got."

Yami opened her eyes a little, taking the tissue and sitting up.  "I'm okay," she said dully.  "It just doesn't make sense."

"It does to me," Tristan said darkly, leaning against the side of the pyramid.  "Joey was in a gang, way back in middle school.  There was a time when he _lived_ to fight with other gangs, sometimes even high school gangs.  He had a long record...they almost sent him to jail.  That's when he was with Hirutani."

The tall boy sighed.  "I used to really look up to him then.  He used to always look out for the younger guys, and he never beat up on people weaker than him...what's his problem?" He slid down the side of the pyramid to sit on the ground, cradling his head in his hands.  "Dammit."

Yami gripped her Millennium Puzzle in both hands, finding comfort in its weight and looking up at the sunset sky.  Whether the puzzle was magic or not, she'd made friends with Joey because of it, and it was a constant reminder to her of what could happen with a little more faith.

"Faith..." she murmured, and Tristan lifted his head.  "Hm?"

"Tristan, that's it," she said, smiling at him.  "Joey hasn't changed.  He couldn't have! I believe that, don't you?"

Looking into Yami's earnest smile, Tristan felt a smile of his own forming on his face.  "...Hey, yeah! Joey would never treat his best buds that way!"

Yami got to her feet.  "Then let's go get him back!"

"Right on." Tristan turned, facing downtown.  "They said they were going to some place called 'J'Z', right?"

The two set off downtown, ready to knock some sense into their friend.  Storm clouds were boiling on the horizon.

**

Nick Vaughan was having a bad day.

Being the newest member of the gang sucked--it meant you did all the grunt work.  Right now he was traipsing the streets searching for an obscure brand of foreign cigarettes--only the best for Hirutani.

"Hi there."

Nick raised his head.  The day was looking up--the voice belonged to a cute little chick blocking his path.  She dimpled at him, throwing brown hair off her shoulder.  She was wearing a blue jacket, like the boys at Domino High wore.  Nick's eyes swept over her petite frame, from her feet to her face.  Nice legs, good rack.

"Domino High?" he asked, running a hand through his black hair.  "You're a little lost if you're looking for that school."

The chick's smile was oddly sweet.  "Oh, but I wasn't looking for the school," she said as someone grabbed Nick from behind, holding his arms useless behind his back.  "I was looking for you."

Nick Vaughan was having a very bad day.

**

Joey propped his feet up on a J'Z table.  He was dying for a cigarette, but everyone else was smoking and he refused to join in simply for the sake of being contrary.

"Glad you found us, Joey!" Hirutani said, waving a hand grandly.  "Have a smoke! We'll have some fun, just like old times."

The glasses-wearing punk--some wannabe named Phil that Joey had never met--was busy kissing Hirutani's ass.  "Excuse me, Hirutani, but you're out of cigarettes, aren't you? Please, have one of mine." He extended a skinny arm to offer Hirutani the pack, then turned just in time to catch a hateful glare from Joey.

Phil chuckled nervously.  "Is there something stuck on my face, Joey?"

Joey got to his feet almost languidly, advancing towards Phil, who took a quick puff on his cigarette.  The other members of the gang watched silently, predatory beasts waiting for the signal to strike.

"Whatcha thinking about, Joey? Don't like our hospitality? You'd rather be playing house with Blondie?"

No answer from Joey save that hateful glare.

*****

Tristan was holding the unlucky Nick Vaughan's arms useless behind his back, putting him in prime interrogation position for Yami.  She stared him down...well, up.  "Start talking.  Why's Joey hanging out with those jerks from Rintama?"

"Gaaaaaack..." Nick was wriggling weakly, vainly trying to escape Tristan's hold.  "Hirutani's been bringing his old friends in to expand the gang's turf...even that jerk Joey Wheeler! But Wheeler refused, so Hirutani had to...persuade him." Despite his situation, Nick smiled, exposing a mouthful of surfboard teeth.  "That punk went as white as a sheet!"

Yami and Tristan exchanged nervous looks, then Yami turned her attention back to Nick.  "What did Hirutani say?" she pressed, and Tristan tightened his hold.

Nick coughed.  "Hirutani said if Joey didn't join our gang, he'd beat up all the kids in his Domino High class one by one.  When he heard that--"

Or rather, when Yami heard that, she shut Nick up with a roundhouse punch so fierce that she ended with her back to him.  "You _bastard_."

Tristan let the now-unconscious Nick slide down to huddle against the alley wall.  "Whoa!" he chuckled appreciatively.  "Is that the old Yami?"

Yami turned to give him a wry grin.  "Yeah.  She's on call for the truly deserving."

"I think those Rintama guys are deserving," Tristan said.

"Truly," was Yami's answer.  "Let's go."

**

Joey circled the glasses-wearing punk like a shark scenting blood in the water.  "No way I'm letting _that_ pass," he rumbled, speaking for the first time.

"Huh?" Phil seemed to sense the hit coming, throwing his arm up to protect himself.  Joey was too fast for him, however, and sent him sprawling with a right hook.

"No way I'm letting you get away with hitting my friend!" Joey roared as the punk's glasses went flying and his cigarette skittered across the floor.

Hirutani chuckled, taking a drag on his own cigarette.  "About time, Joey, that you got that old look in your eyes.  Too bad for you that it's aimed at us."

As soon as it had appeared, the smile dropped from Hirutani's face.  "Boys!" he barked.  "Joey needs an attitude adjustment! Hold him down!"

It was Joey's turn to be in the center of a ring of sharks.  He tensed and glared at them, knowing a bluff wouldn't be enough...

**

Yami sprinted down the block towards J'Z, heart hammering beneath the Millennium Puzzle bouncing on her chest.  Tristan was in hot pursuit.  "Wait, Yami, we need a plan!"

"I _have_ a plan--it's called We Save Joey!" Yami retorted over her shoulder.  She whipped her head back around, her focus never slipping.  Her eyes narrowed as the first raindrops began to fall.

_Hang on, Joey--I'm on my way!_

**

**Author's Notes:**

The Ancient Playground is where I like to go to look at the sky.  It's right next to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and it seemed an ideal backdrop for Yami and Tristan.  It's warm in the summer if you lay on that pyramid.

Anyone in Hirutani's gang who never had a name in the manga received a name of some jerky male I had the misfortune to know for a short while.  

Yami-girl knows what to do with guys we don't like…as the next chapter illustrates.


	7. In The Rain

**Author's Introduction:**

When last we left our heroes (I've always wanted to say that *smiles*), things weren't looking so good.  The weather was awful and so were Joey's chances of getting away from the Rintama gang alive.  But this chapter it's Yami to the rescue! Here we go--Chapter Seven: This Time It's Not Chapter Six!

*giggles and shakes head.* I'm so silly.

**

**Chapter Seven, Twelfth Duel: In the Rain**

_I don't feel a thing_

_And I stop remembering_

_The days just like months turned to hours_

_Mother used to say_

_If you want you'll find a way_

_But Mother never danced through fire-showers_

_In the rain_

_I walk in the rain_

_In the rain_

_Is it right or is it wrong?_

_And is it here that I belong?_

(Rain)

(Cowboy Bebop)

**

Lightning unzipped the sky outside the J'Z window as Joey dodged the first punch, slamming his knee into his assailant's jaw.  However, Hirutani's gang wasn't going to be faked out a second time.  The tallest one took Joey down with a brutal hammer-fist to the back of the head.  Dazed, Joey dropped to one knee for a second, but it was long enough for the gang to close in.  Joey ended with his cheek pressed to the floor and a dogpile on top of him.  "Let me go, ya jerks!"

Hirutani was still smoking, apart from the melee.  He exhaled, ribbons of smoke trailing from his nostrils.  "We need a little change of scenery, boys.  Why don't we show Joey the...torture chamber." A small grin curled Hirutani's thin lips.

Joey didn't like the sound of _that_.  _Oh fuuuuuuuuuuuck._

**

The stairs down to J'Z yawned as Tristan bounded down them with Yami on his heels.  He wasn't too fond of Yami's "all guns blazing" tactic, but he admitted to himself that they didn't have a better plan.  He kicked the warped door open and Yami charged in.  "Heads up!" Tristan called, hoping the element of surprise might save Yami a few hits.

"Give Joey ba--" Yami stopped short, and Tristan bumped into her.  "Uh--!"

They faced an empty room.  Barstools covered in torn leather were overturned onto the stained blue rug.  One more thing was lying on the floor--an unconscious boy by the bar, his cheek already swollen.  It would be a hell of a bruise soon.

Yami shifted her weight nervously from foot to foot as Tristan felt for a pulse.  "He's fine," the tall boy said, looking back up at Yami.  "He's just knocked out."

"Joey's in trouble," she said thinly.  "Oh Tris, he's got to be in trouble..."

"Split up," was the only idea Tristan could come up with.  "We'll cover more ground that way, and we don't have much time."

Without words, as if it were choreographed, they returned to the street.  Yami went left, Tristan right.  They quickly lost sight of each other in the driving rain.

**

Joey couldn't tell if his nausea was from the beating or from dangling like an obscene piñata on a fraying rope fastened to the leaky ceiling of a cave-dark warehouse.  Enormous rats scampered across packing materials that littered the floor.  They seemed eager to see the show.  Rain beat through the rotting roof, pooling on the ground.

Joey counted the remaining members of the gang.  There were five--Hirutani, the kid with the spiked crop of hair, the one with the slicked-back dark hair, and the two largest guys in the whole gang, both looking like immovable mountains.  Even if he managed to get down from the hook, he'd never be able to fight them all off.  He'd have to buy some time until he could think of a better plan…

Joey spit at Hirutani and missed.  The bigger boy chuckled.  "I like this view, Joey."

Joey grinned back, although it was a bloodier and weaker grin than his opponent's.  "The view from here ain't so bad either." He hurt all over but felt strong enough to tease them.  " 'Look! It's a red-assed boss monkey and his pack!' "

The answer to this was a knee to Joey's gut and a fist to his jaw, courtesy of Hirutani. _Worth it_, thought Joey even amidst the pain.

Hirutani stepped back and let his goons continue the beating.  "Joey, you've been like this since middle school--always thinking you were my equal!"

"Ain't yer equal," Joey panted.  "I'm your _better_.  And I'll prove it--I've got a real good memory, boss monkey! I remember all you jerks' faces, remember every time each one of you hit me--and I'm gonna pay you back with _interest_."

"Is that so?" Hirutani wasn't nervous.  "Why don't we blow his mind, boys?"

Like a bad magic act, the rest of the gang produced tazers from beneath their jackets.  The kid with the spiked hair--Joey was pretty sure his name was Jacob--teased his tazer in front of Joey's face.  "Know what this is, funny guy? It's a 200,000-volt stun gun! It's gonna blow your memories right out of your head...and maybe your life, too.  Feel lucky?"

Joey did; he used the rope to swing forward, kicking Jacob in the face with his beloved Air Muscle sneakers.  Jacob landed on his back with a groan and was still.

"_Bastard_," Hirutani growled, grabbing a tazer from one of his thugs.  "I'll teach you!..."

Joey willed himself not to scream as the tazer flickered to electric life, but as it touched him his voice broke free of his control.

**

A scream jerked Yami's dark head around.  A familiar scream--

"Joey!!" she shrieked, instinctively running across the intersection in the direction of the sound, but she had no idea where to go next.  Every rain-soaked sidewalk looked the same, and she'd turned so many blind corners already...

Gritting her teeth, she waited.  _Do I want Joey to scream again so I can follow the sound, or do I want those punks to stop hurting him?_

A sickening thought slammed into her--Joey might not be _able_ to scream again.  

It was enough to make her curl into a sodden, desperate ball on the curb.  What else could she do?...

Her Millennium Puzzle was heavy and comforting in her hands.  "You're magic," she told it.  "I _know_ you're magic.  Be magic now--tell me where Joey is!"

The Puzzle seemed to twinkle, even under the greying sky, and Yami's wet lashes slid down over her eyes.  The rain melted away for a second, and a jumble of pictures was pressed to her mind, as if being seen behind her eyes.

Rooftop--leaking rooftop.  Oil drums.  Loading hook.  Oil drums next to a boy holding a scary-looking--something.  Rope tied to loading hook.  That wicked something again.  Rope tied to--

"Joey!" Yami's crimson eyes flew open, but not before she was already running, new determination in her stride.

**

Hirutani was enjoying his fun.  It was about time someone taught that whelp Joey Wheeler a lesson...

"Hey, Hirutani, he can't even talk anymore!" the large boy with the flattop interrupted hesitantly, speaking for the first time.  "He's just twitching now! Should we stop?"

"No.  Do it," Hirutani ordered, pale angry eyes on the still-spasming Joey.

Flattop earned points for bravery--he pressed on.  "B-But...if we keep going, he'll..._die_..."

"_Do_ it!" Hirutani roared, baring his teeth.  

"_Stop_!" a new voice yelled over the crackle of the tazers.  A girl's voice--she stood, a shadow in the doorway, as they turned.

She stood as tall as she could, hair a wet mess of light and dark.  She was drenched, white blouse clinging to every line and curve, blood-colored eyes promising murder.  A large golden pyramid hung from her throat, shining in the dim light.

"Nice entrance," Hirutani quipped, smiling the smirk of the unimpressed.  

"Wait till you see the death scene," she answered with a smirk of her own.  "It'll be murder."

The rest of the gang looked to Hirutani for orders.  He waved one big hand in a dismissive motion.  "Don't worry about it, boys.  It's Joey's brat chick.  If this is all the help he has coming, he's done for." He chuckled, and everyone else quickly laughed with him, except the girl.

"We'll see who's done for," the girl challenged, and bold as brass, tried to throw a clumsy punch at the leading goon.  He easily ducked it and sent her spinning back to land near the fallen Jacob.  They laughed as she struggled to get up, using him for support.

"What a lame excuse for a rescue!" Hirutani guffawed.

The girl was busy.  She had taken off her strange pendant, fastening it to a chain above her head.  Wiping her bleeding mouth, she hopped onto a rubber tire, smirking.  "Oh, it's not over.  In fact, it's time for me to start--a game!" Her smile confused the gang.  "I challenge you four to a game!"

"A _game_?" Hirutani gave ground to her pointing finger.

Her grin was bloodstained as she snickered.  "I know something _youuuuuuu_ don't know..." she purred to the four remaining thugs.  "There's a time bomb hidden at your feet! The seconds are already slipping away, the switch poised to activate!"

"What are you talking about, little bitch?" Hirutani growled.  "A _bomb_?!"

"You're _sooooo_ smart, though, aren't you, my dear? You're smart enough to find the switch."  The brunette looked almost dreamy as she explained her game.  "If you do, you win! And you can have me as your prize." She posed briefly, but then the dreamy look was gone as if it had never been.  She was deadly serious.  "But if you _can't_, the bomb will explode, taking you with it!"

"The little bitch is bluffing, Hirutani!" one guy yelled.  "That cute little mouth's writing checks her _body_ can't cash..."

"We can make her body cash its checks," another snickered.  "Want to have some fun with her?"

"I don't want to hold her down, though--let's stun her so she's nice and quiet."

The girl simply stood atop her tire, smiling, waiting.  If the news of her impending rape upset her, she didn't show it.  One guy raised his tazer--

--and Hirutani realized what would happen.  "Don't use the stun guns!" he roared suddenly, startling his gang.  His eyes slitted as he stared down the still-smiling girl.

"What's up, Hirutani?" one thug gasped.

Hirutani snickered.  "This chick's more than just a cute little toy.  She's not just bluffing." He stamped his foot, splashing in the puddle they were standing in.  "See? We're all soaked with rain, and the little bitch let us hit her so she could lure us into this puddle! If even one of us turns on a tazer, the 200,000 volts will go right from his hand to the puddle, and her little 'bomb' will blow us to kingdom come!"

The girl looked mildly impressed.  "It speaks.  Be still my heart."

"We don't need the stun guns to show you a good time, baby," Hirutani purred, stepping towards her.  "Time for us to claim our prize!"

"But you _didn't_ find the switch," she corrected smoothly, not missing a beat.  "_I'm_ the winner.  The switch is about to activate...right...now."

Like an audiovisual aid, a groan drew Hirutani's eyes to the fallen Jacob, who was still lying semiconscious on the floor, with one significant change--his arm was propped up by a piece of metal, the tazer still sparking in his hand...

"The switch is his arm!" Hirutani burst out.  His eyes raced from his fallen friend to where the girl's pyramid was hanging, dripping cold rainwater onto Jacob's eyes.  He remembered the girl hauling herself up from the floor, using Jacob as support...or...

"She set all this up when she got hit!" The pieces were all coming together too late for Hirutani.  "_Jacob_! _Don't wake up_!"

Too late.  Jacob groaned and shifted, the metal bar clanking to the floor and the hand clutching the tazer dropping to the puddle of rainwater.

The girl's angelic smile was the last thing Hirutani's frightened eyes saw.

"Switch on.  It's lights out for you!"

**

_Everything hurts..._

He first realized his eyes were closed by noticing how hard it was to open them.  His wrists were sore, but he couldn't remember why.  His eyelids were so heavy, and their backs were so dark!...

"Joey! Joey!"  

Someone was calling him, a girl's voice, a voice he knew.  Joey.  Was that his name? Who was he? He couldn't remember.

"Joey! Come on, Joey, look at me!"

Oh.  She sounded sad.  _Maybe I should tell her I'm okay._

"Please, Joey.  Please? Open your eyes." Her voice broke.

_Don't cry.  It's okay.  I'm here._ Who was she? His hand was reaching for her before he could force his eyes open, feeling his fingers tangling in soft hair.  When his vision focused, he saw how dark that hair was against his hands, all except for bright bangs that were dripping rainwater down her face, into the most unbelievable eyes...

It all came rushing back.  She was Yami Motou, his best friend.  And he had a best friend, he, Joey Wheeler.

He had a _self_ again.

"Y...Ya..._Yami_..." he choked out, and then she was hugging him, curling around him, smelling of rain and the remains of cherry almond perfume.  Everything was all right.

**

A startling crash didn't faze the students of 12:10 chemistry, although Dr. Hanson was jumping out of her skin every five minutes.  The death toll so far: two beakers, a test tube, a shattered stirring wand, and a puddle of melted metal that had once been part of Tristan's project for shop class.  The rest of Tristan's shop project was currently adorning Yami's head as she played Sasuke for the second month in a row.

" '_Now_ he has a plan?' " She snorted.  " 'Hmf...so, it's time for some teamwork?' "

Joey, as Naruto, picked up his cue right away, stamping his foot on his lab station.  " 'Ok! Let's get busy!' " 

All Zabuza had had to do for the last three pages of the manga was glare, so it was okay for Tristan to break character to smile at his friends.  "Now _this_ is more like it."

**

**Author's Notes:**

If you want to know why Yami's playing Sasuke and not Sakura, it's because I've already delegated the part of Sakura to someone in a later chapter.  Besides, I just love it when Sasuke says, "There's someone I have sworn…to kill." I felt bad sticking Tristan as Zabuza, but _somebody _had to be the bad guy.  

Starting next chapter, things start to get serious in terms of storyline--like the first sighting of the spirit living inside Yami-girl's Millennium Puzzle.  And if you thought Yami-girl was difficult to deal with, wait till you meet her ancient counterpart…


	8. Walk Like An Egyptian

**Author's Introduction:**

Forty-four reviews! I'm so happy! When I first gathered up the courage I'd need to post Yami-Girl up, I was so afraid nobody would like her! And now, look! I'm thrilled to my finger-tips to see so many reviews.  Thank you, _all_ of you! I'm so unbelievably grateful.

I watched the Battle City Finals continue this weekend and was thrilled to see more of Shadi.  I think he rocks, and it's such a shame that he seems to play such a small part in the series.  So I've tried to make him as cool as I can with what little I have to work with--I hope it turned out all right, since I'm a big Shadi fan.

Anyone who's been curious about how the Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle is going to turn up in this story, stay tuned…

And please forgive the musical reference in this chapter.  I couldn't resist. *smiles.* I especially hold with the lines about being sick of school and loving the punk bands.  So would Yami-Girl, I imagine.

I actually saw the Bangles play live, once upon a time…they were really good.  So it's while remembering that very good night that I set this down.

**

**Chapter Eight, Duel 13: Walk Like An Egyptian**

_The blonde waitresses take their trays_

_Spin around, and they cross the floor_

_They've got the moves_

_You drop your drink, then they bring you more_

_All the schoolkids so sick of books_

_They like the punk and the metal bands_

_When the buzzer rings_

_They're walking like an Egyptian_

(Walk Like An Egyptian)

(The Bangles)

**

"Good things don't end in '-eum'.  They end in '-mania'.  Or, '-teria'."

(Homer Simpson)

**

Another school day was dead and buried.  Yami Motou politely accepted a boost to the top shelf of her locker from her best friend, Joey Wheeler.  "It could be fun," she protested, legs dangling in midair as she pawed around the top shelf of her locker for an emergency pack of cigarettes.  "Found them."

"Aw, Yami, you know how I feel about cultural shit," Joey answered, shaking his blond head.

"Yeah.  Joey doesn't like any books that aren't pop-up!" Tristan Taylor joked, walking up to lean on the locker next to Yami's.  "What's up, guys?"

Joey lifted Yami out of the locker and set her gently down.  He accepted the cigarettes from her and sighed.  "Yami thinks it would be fun to go to the Egyptian exhibit at the Domino City Museum."

Yami smiled.  "The college professor who discovered the pharaoh's tomb is my grandpa's friend, Professor Yoshimori.  He invited us, so we can get in free!"

Joey turned to Tristan for help, but the dark-eyed boy was just as interested as Yami was in the Egyptian exhibit.  "That sounds cool.  Didn't they find a mummy?"

Joey hadn't thought he could like the idea less, but his nerves jangled at that statement.  Wood-brown eyes shot wide open as he considered Tristan's question.  "A mummy?! I don't wanna get cursed!"

"There isn't any such thing as curses, Joey," Yami soothed.  "Please? I'd love to see all the Egyptian artifacts..."

"Isn't Egypt where your Puzzle is from, Yami?" Tristan asked, pointing to Yami's pendant.

"Uh huh," Yami said happily, cradling her treasure in her hands.  "It was found in Egypt, too."

"What happened to the guys who found it?" Joey asked, one blond brow quirked.  "How come it's not in a museum?"

Yami suddenly shifted her weight guiltily from one foot to the other.  "Umm," she stalled.  

Joey folded his arms and waited.

Yami saw there was no getting out of it.  "Well...Grandpa said they all died mysterious deaths," she admitted.

Mistake--Joey grabbed her fast as lightning and shook her.  "It's a curse! Yami! You aren't cursed, too, are you?!"

Yami clutched at Joey's arms, trying to make him let go.  "N-n-n-no, J-j-j-j-o-e-y! I'm-m n-n-not c-c-c-cursed!"

"Joe! Put her down, she doesn't have any curses," Tristan chuckled, clapping Joey on the back.  "You don't have anything, do you, Yami?"

"Just a b-b-b-broken n-n-n-nose," Yami answered from Joey's still-shaking hands.

Tristan decided to come to Yami's rescue.  "Joey's just scared," he said nonchalantly, stealing a cigarette out of Joey's pocket and flipping it into his mouth.  "All this curse mumbo-jumbo is just to cover up that he's a wimp!"

Joey dropped Yami, who landed with a thud.  "Oof!"

It was Tristan's turn to be lifted by his collar and shaken.  "Who're ya calling scared?"

"You!" was Tristan's answer, trying to break Joey's hold.  "Only a _girly_ man would be afraid of curses!"

"_That's _it!" Joey roared.

"Boys!" Yami cried, ducking under Joey's raised arm to fish in his pocket.  "If you don't stop fighting, I won't share my cigarettes." Taking the Lucky Strikes hostage, she retreated across the hallway.  

"We'll be good," both boys immediately vowed, letting go of each other.

Yami nodded and distributed the cigarettes evenly as they walked out of the building.  Joey grumbled and shoved his share in his pocket to save for later.  "Since she only smokes when she's with _us_, I don't see how she's always the one with the cigs."

"Because she's the only one who has _money_," Tristan hissed.  "They're not cheap, you know."

"Seven bucks a pack now, don't think you two don't owe me," Yami said.  "I'm walking next to you, not deaf."

Both boys cringed.  Tristan decided to change the subject.  "Listen, why don't we meet at the museum at one o'clock tomorrow and Josie over there can practice being a man?"

Joey growled.  "You're on, Tracy.  See you at one, and bring an extra pair of pants.  When we get cursed, I guarantee you're gonna be so scared you're gonna _need_ one."

Yami shook her head and smiled.  "Check your cigarettes, boys.  I think you've been smoking something a little stronger than nicotine!"

Her friends laughed as she waved and struck out for home.  "See you tomorrow!"

Yami waited until she was out of sight before lighting a single Lucky she'd kept for herself.  She smoked it fast, nervously, wanting to finish it before she reached the game shop.  The reason for her sudden stress was lying on her chest.

_I didn't want to tell the others_, she thought, inhaling the poison in quick, nervous sips.  _But ever since I completed the Puzzle, there have been times I've lost my memory..._

She finished the cigarette, flicking the period away and smoothing her hair before opening the door to the shop.  _I can't tell them.  They'll think it's weird, and Joey might not EVER stop shaking me!_

**

The next day dawned sunny and bright.  Clouds piled high over the Domino City Museum like fluffy cotton.  Joey fiddled with the zipper on his white letter jacket as he and Tristan approached the building.  "Aw, man.  A beautiful day, and we're gonna be stuck inside learning stuff."

Tristan clapped Joey on the back and chuckled.  "Don't worry, Joey.  If nobody forces you to do it, it counts as fun."

"Really?" Joey seemed to perk up.  "Oh.  Okay, then." He didn't tell Tristan he had his own pack of Lucky Strikes hidden up his red leather sleeve in case he needed a reason to go back outside.  There was no smoking allowed in the museum.

Tristan's brown trench coat flapped around his legs as they looked around for Yami.  "You know Yami, though, she's always late," he said, using one tanned hand as a visor for his eyes in the early afternoon sunlight.  "Here she comes, and Grandpa's with her."

Yami was talking animatedly to her grandfather, nearly dancing on a pair of knee boots with larger-than-usual treads and pockets on each side.  A black plaid miniskirt and a sleeveless white mock turtleneck completed the outfit, making the Millennium Puzzle the only bright thing about her.  

"Looks like we're the lucky last, Yami," Sugoroku chuckled, taking a hand out of the pockets of his denim overalls to wave at Tristan and Joey.  "Have you boys been waiting long?"

"Nah," Tristan said with a smile.  "But you got here just in time--Joey was just about to chicken out and go home!"

"I was not!!" Joey hollered, bristling.

Luckily, before a fight could break out, a voice called out, "Motou!"

The voice belonged to a blond man in a wheat-colored suit jacket over a pair of Dockers.  His collar was open; he wore no tie.  

"Well, you certainly _look_ like a college professor," Sugoroku chuckled, clasping his friend's hand and shaking it.  "All that's missing are the elbow patches!"

"On my other jacket," the professor joked with a twinkle in his eyes.  "It's good to see you again!"

"Thank you for inviting us to your show!" Sugoroku answered.  "Let me introduce you to my granddaughter and her friends.  Professor Yoshimori, my granddaughter Yami and her two best friends, Joey and Tristan."

Yoshimori's brown eyes sparked.  "So you're Yami! I've heard nothing but praise for you from your grandfather."

"Aww." Yami kicked a foot, looking down and blushing.

"Pleased to meet you"s were exchanged, and then Joey interrupted, seeming to have forgotten all about curses.  "You're famous! You're the guy who found the pharaoh's tomb!"

"_That's it_!" a voice yelled excitedly before Yoshimori could answer Joey.  All heads turned  to see a short, round little man scurrying towards them as fast as he could.  His suit was white linen, and he carried a cane.

Yoshimori waved the man over.  "This is the owner of the museum.  He provided the grant for the excavation and is sponsoring the exhibit."

"Kanekura's the name!" the fat man blared.  "Welcome to my museum!" He hurriedly shook Sugoroku's hand.  "A pleasure to have any friend of Yoshimori's."

Sugoroku started to reply, but Kanekura's attention was immediately diverted to Yami.  "And you _must_ be Cleopatra," he joked with a big, hard smile.

"You must be blind," Yami answered coolly, arching a dark brow.

"Yami!" Sugoroku reprimanded even as he hid a smile, but both Yoshimori and Kanekura laughed.  

"But you do hold a royal treasure, Yami," Kanekura said, indicating the Millennium Puzzle lying on Yami's chest.  Yami looked down and realized what had been "it".  

"It _is_ my treasure," she answered softly, cradling the pyramid.

"It's the legendary Millennium Puzzle!" Kanekura announced importantly.  "You _must_ show it to me!"

Yami hesitantly tugged on the cord that held the Puzzle around her throat.  "Umm...okay..." Almost as soon as it had been removed from her neck, Kanekura snatched it in his chubby little hands.

"This is _wonderful_!" he shrieked.  "Amazing! Such an important piece of pharaonic history, and it's hanging around _your throat_!"

Yami brought a fist up to her mouth, a childlike gesture, as she turned to Sugoroku for help.  Yoshimori stepped in to soothe her.  "Kanekura makes his living in the art business.  He has a real eye for antiquities--your Puzzle must be really special!"

Yami liked that and smiled, but Kanekura interrupted again.  "Yami, I beg you! People have got to see this! Let me display it at the show!"

"Whaa?!" Joey and Tristan yelled.

Yami immediately shook her chocolate-vanilla head.  "Oh, I don't know.  It's mine--"

"Please!" Kanekura pressed.

"It's not special," Yami protested.  "Worthless to anyone but me." She was finding it difficult to get out of this gracefully.

Luckily, once again Yoshimori stepped in to save the day.  "Well, it would only be on display for one day," he said, putting a hand on Yami's slim shoulder.

"One day?" Kanekura said, alarmed, but a look from Yoshimori silenced him.  "Right! Of course! One day is plenty!"

Yami slowly agreed.  "I guess one day would be okay..."

"I'll just run ahead and put this on display, then, so that you can see it when you get into the museum!" Kanekura turned.  "Take your time--enjoy yourselves!"

"That guy is shady," Joey whispered to Tristan.  The darker boy nodded.  

"Ready to go, everyone?" Sugoroku asked cheerfully.  Everyone nodded except Yami, who was staring down her sleeveless mock-turtleneck at where the Puzzle had once been.

"Come on, Yami, let's go see your Puzzle," Joey said, grabbing the brunette's hand, and in they all trooped.

**

Already inside the museum, Kanekura chuckled, caressing the Puzzle.  _One day is plenty..._

**

Sugoroku's old Nikes made no sound on the polished museum floor.  Joey's Air Muscles squeaked every time he dragged his feet, until Tristan kicked him with one of his Doc Martens.  Yami was still looking apprehensive, despite all the splendor around them.  She had one hand over her ribs, where the Puzzle usually rested.

"What's wrong, kiddo?" Tristan asked.

"Somehow I just don't feel right without the Puzzle," she admitted shyly.  "I've been wearing it so long now..."

"I think it's cool!" Joey chimed in, wanting to make Yami feel better.  "Your treasure's gonna be famous!"

Yami brightened.  "You think so?"

Tristan was reminded of something he'd brought with him.  "Wait, guys, look what I have." He dug into a pocket of the brown trench coat and came up with a camera.  "We can take a picture in front of it later."

"Good idea, man!" Joey said.  Sugoroku smiled.

Yoshimori fell into step beside Yami.  "I'm sorry, Yami," he said softly.  "I know you didn't want to lend your Puzzle to Mr. Kanekura."

"It's okay," Yami lied bravely, shrugging her bronze shoulders.  "It's only for one day."

Yoshimori smiled kindly.  "You're a good girl.  I'm not in much of a position to complain, since none of this would have happened without Mr. Kanekura...but he can be somewhat...self-centered."

Feeling guilty, Yami pointed at a papyrus scroll.  "Hey, Professor, what's that?"

Yoshmori immediately went into college-professor mode, explaining the scene painted on the papyrus.  "This scene depicts the weighing of the heart--the judgment of the dead."

"Eww," Yami said, wrinkling her nose.  "They weighed the heart?"

Yoshimori chuckled.  "Not really, Yami.  It's part of the Egyptian religion--however, the heart was a very big deal to them.  They threw out the brain when they removed it from a dead body.  They believed that the heart did all the thinking!"

"That's gross!" said Tristan at the same time Joey muttered, "Cool!"

"The dead are judged by Osiris," Yoshimori said, indicating a figure on a throne.  "That's Anubis to the left--" where a jackal-headed man was weighing something small on a golden scale.  "If a person's deeds weigh less than a feather, they pass on to the afterlife.  If not...they are fed to Ammit, the devourer of the dead!"

"Ewww, gross!" Joey finally agreed.  Yami could see why--Ammit was a disgusting-looking amalgamation of a lion, a crocodile, and a hippopotamus.

"And over here, we have the mummy!" Yoshimori continued, and suddenly Joey wasn't having fun anymore.  

"Do we _have_ to see the mummy?!" he hissed.

"Scared, Josie?" Tristan teased, elbowing his friend in the ribs.

"That's it, make fun.  Fine.  Go see the mummy.  Go get cursed." Joey folded his arms

Yoshimori roared  "There's no such thing as curses!"

"See, I told you, Joey!" Tristan said.

"You want a rosary or something?" Joey offered, still refusing to go near the mummy.  Sugoroku roared.

Meanwhile, Yami leaned forward, pressing fingertips delicately against the glass case that protected the mummy from her.  "Oh, my!"

The mummy was dried and shriveled with age.  His arms lay forever folded on his chest, the bandages rotting away to so many shreds.  His eyes seemed not quite closed, as if he were a restless sleeper...

"I wonder if he was handsome," she murmured, looking at the dry and dusty face.

"I must look upon the face of one who wonders such a thing," a voice said to her left, and Yami whirled to see a man standing there.

He was dressed all in white, in a long, flowing robe that matched the turban wrapped around his head.  Golden rings were in his ears, and in one dark hand he carried a scale.  _That's odd_, Yami thought.  _Why a scale?_

The only part of the man that didn't match his outfit was a pair of turquoise blue eyes.  They were slanted, and tears were streaking from them down his bronze face.

"Why are you crying?" Yami asked gently, touching the white sleeve.

The man didn't seem to mind the casual touch, and glanced at the mummy before answering.  "These tears are not mine.  This shriveled form...he has become a doll of dust.  But he is still the eternal pharaoh...his spirit lives on with his name.  And now, even the eternal sleep is denied him...the cry of his soul becomes tears and flows down my cheeks." He had a funny voice for someone so tall--kind of light and toneless.

Yami blinked, looking from man to mummy, until a soft chuckle interrupted her.  The man stroked a gentle hand down her hair in a casual touch of his own.  "You're a good girl," he said with a smile.

Yami blinked, that being the second time in as many hours someone had said that to her today.  _Weird..._

"Hey, look!" Joey called, pointing.  "Yami's Puzzle is on display!"

Yami promptly forgot the man and hurried over to see her Puzzle.

**

"It _is_ magnificent," Kanekura's investor murmured appreciatively, admiring the Millennium Puzzle's gleam.  "I'll pay any price.  It's spectacular!"

"Shall we finalize the sale in my office ten minutes before the museum closes?" Kanekura asked, taking the man's arm and steering his away from the case.  He'd heard the sound of booted feet hurrying towards them.

_That Puzzle's going to make me a fortune_, Kanekura thought gleefully as Yami and her friends raced over to the case and began to pose for a picture.  _Of course, I'll have to give Yami some to shut her up..._

"Say cheese!" a voice said.

**

"Cheese!" 

"Burger!" Joey joked.

The flash went off, and Tristan smiled.  "That was a good one!"

"This place really is kinda cool, I gotta say," Joey admitted.  

"I agree! Thank you for today, Professor Yoshimori!" Sugoroku said.

"It's my pleasure." The professor smiled.  "Come by my lab sometime and I'll show you even more."

Sugoroku turned to his granddaughter.  "Ready to head home, Yami? I've got to get back to the store."

The girl blinked.  "Oh, you go on without me--I want to stay till it closes so I can get my Puzzle back before I go home."

"Of course." Sugoroku patted his granddaughter's head.  "I'll meet you back home, then."

"See you tomorrow, Yami!" Joey called as he and Tristan headed for the door.  "Don't bring back any curses!"

Yami laughed as she settled down to wait.  Looking at her thick black watch, she saw that it was four-thirty.

**

Kanekura was in his office, eagerly awaiting his visitor.  Little did he know that the visitor he was about to receive wasn't who he'd been expecting...

A white robe brushed against the investor's death-slackened jaw as the intruder stepped soundlessly over the body, with only the creaking door alerting Kanekura of his presence.

Annoyed that the man standing in the doorway was not his investor, Kanekura huffed, "Who the hell are you?!"

The man regarded him evenly with a turquoise gaze.  "I am a servant of Anubis.  My bloodline has guarded the tombs for three thousand years."

"A-Anubis?!" Kanekura choked.  

"Because of your greed, another tomb in the Valley of the Kings has been defiled.  You have trespassed in the territory of the gods." The man's turquoise eyes suddenly snapped, and anger filled his gaze.  "For that, you will go on trial!"

"I get it!" Kanekura pointed an accusing finger at the man.  "You're from the Egyptian government! I don't sell antiquities on the black market!!" he hollered too loudly.

The man sighed through his nose, annoyed.  He stalked across the plush pale rug, slamming a scale down onto the mahogany desk.  Raising a dark hand, he plucked a feather from the folds of his turban.

"The feather of Ma'at--Goddess of Truth!" Kanekura hissed.

"Exactly." The man placed the feather on one side of his scale.  "That would make these the Scales of Truth.  So says what you call the Book of the Dead.  As you can see, the Scales are now balanced."

"It's just a myth!" Kanekura protested.

"No.  It is a _Shadow Game_!" The man's eyes bored into Kanekura.  "I will ask you a  series of questions.  If you do not tell the truth, the other side of the Scales will grow heavy...with the weight of your crimes." The man seemed not even to blink as he explained his game.  "Should that side of the Scales touch the ground...the penalty game of _death_ awaits you."

"P-p-penalt--" Kanekura began, but the man silenced him almost boredly with the first question.  

"A young girl falls into a deep well.  You are the only one to see it happen.  However, at your feet lies the golden ring the girl was wearing...what do you do?"

"I save her!" Kanekura shouted immediately.  "I save the little girl!"

And yet, the empty side of the Scales sank a little...

**

"Five minutes to five," Yami sighed, rising to her feet and stretching.  "I think I've waited long enough." 

She absently pirouetted once before wandering back into the museum.

**

"I'm telling the truth!" Kanekura protested, sweat beginning to bead on his forehead.  "How is the plate sinking without anything in it? What's the trick? What's a penalty game?"

"The penalty game," the man intoned, "awaits within your heart."

Kanekura's expensive leather chair seemed to move beneath him.  Panicking, he began to rise, but the arms of the chair became claws that held him fast, long yellow talons digging into his white linen suit.  The leather was now scaly skin that hid strong muscle and huge bone.

"The chair!" Kanekura shrieked.  "The chair is changing!"

The man stayed silent as the back of the chair slid forward to become a snout full of razor teeth, drooling onto Kanekura's bald head.

"You know her well," the man said.  "She is Ammit, and she has made herself at home in the room of your soul.  She wanted to be here for the last question..." Once again the angry look returned to the man's turquoise eyes.  "Have you defiled the territory of the gods and sold their treasure to fatten your own pockets?"

Kanekura broke.  "_Stop_! _Stop_!! I'll pay anything!! How much do you want?!!

The scales tipped with a sickening clank.  

The man was not surprised.  "There is no truth in the room of your soul.  There is only greed...and a monster who will dine well tonight..."

With a snarl, Ammit opened her mighty jaws to swallow Kanekura's scream.

**

Yami jogged over to the case where her Puzzle had been displayed.  She hadn't been able to help glancing at the mummy as she'd passed by, but she didn't feel right without the Puzzle around her neck.  She wanted it back.

"Hey!" she cried, skidding to a halt at her destination.  "It's gone!"

The glass case was empty.  Yami looked around and found no one who could tell her where her Puzzle might be.

_I'd better find Mr. Kanekura_, she decided, turning on her heel and walking further into the museum.

**

His work done, the tall man was about to leave Kanekura's office when a gleam of gold caught his eye.

For the first time, shock registered on his usually blank face as he lifted a pyramid-shaped object from Kanekura's desk.

_This is the Millennium Puzzle--and in its completed form! In three thousand years, it has never been solved!_ He stared down at the Puzzle in awe.  _Why here? Who in this country--in the WORLD--could have solved the Puzzle?!_

As if on cue, a girl's voice called hello, echoing down the hall beyond the office.  

**

Stepping into the hallway, the tall man confronted the girl from before, the petite brunette who had been concerned about him and the pharaoh.  _She cannot have heard anything,_ he assured himself.

The girl made a "stop" motion with one hand when she saw him about to turn.  "Oh, wait, don't go," she pleaded.  "Maybe you can help me.  Have you seen Mr. Kanekura? He promised to return my Puzzle...it's gold and it's shaped like a pyramid...?"

For the second time in as many minutes, he was shocked. _IMPOSSIBLE_, he thought.  _NOT this GIRL!!!_

"I guess you don't know, then," she said shyly.  "I'm sorry I bothered you." She turned, and it was his turn to halt her.  

_If she's solved the Millennium Puzzle, it's SHE who will gain my bloodline's power! I must make sure!_ "Don't go."

"Hm?" she asked, and quickly he drew a large golden ankh-shaped key from the folds of his robe.  Resting it against her forehead, he gave it a half-turn, surprising her--

--and then the vision was opened to him; the room of her soul.

Surprise, for the third time!

_This girl has TWO rooms in her soul!_ he thought in amazement.

It was true.  Instead of a normal soul room, he was standing in a hallway.  On his left, an open door led to a bright, cheerful room.  Peering inside, he saw an open window, a floor scattered with toys.  Dice, game pieces, poker chips, playing cards, plush animals, but nothing sinister or dark.  

_It's...pure_, he realized.  _Innocent._

On the other hand, the other _room_...

Exotic-looking vines climbed the right wall and laced over a heavy stone door, shut tight against the hallway.  Carved into the upper half of the door was the all-seeing Eye of Horus.

Just as the tall man was wondering what he would have to do to get into that room, the door swung slowly open on its own to reveal a woman.

She was the double of the petite brunette he had met in the halls of the museum, and wearing the same blouse and skirt...but something about this girl was _different_.  Her smile was silky and lazy, and while the first girl's eyes had been a curious scarlet, this new girl's eyes were the deep violet of the twilight skies. 

"Well, well," she purred in a voice as dark as a night without stars.  "A visitor in my room! It must be a special occasion."

No, this was definitely not the same girl.

She laughed, and there was no fear in her voice as she beckoned to him with simply a crook of one slender, tapered finger.  "Come in...if you _dare_.  A _game_ awaits you!"

There seemed to be no end to the surprises today...

**

**Author's Note:**

So she has arrived at last! Who is the girl that Shadi finds dwelling in the second soul room? The only way to find out is to answer her challenge…

Finding out isn't going to be his biggest problem.  Living to tell someone else, _that_ might be a problem…

But that doesn't happen until the next chapter.


	9. Dark Secret

**Author's Introduction: **

Over fifty reviews! I couldn't be more thrilled.  

In case anyone's just tuning in now (and you shouldn't be! Go back and read the other chapters! *smile*) I'll catch you up: Shadi has just unlocked Yami-girl's second soul room and come face to face (well, given her height it's more like chest to face) with the Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle.  She looks almost exactly like Yami, but her violet eyes and devil's smile seem to keep giving her away…

So who is she? What's she doing in Yami's soul room? 

Shadi's the first person in thousands of years to even come _close_ to finding out--but she's not going to make it easy for him…

**

**Chapter Nine: Dark Secret**

**

_You are sickened by the weakness_

_Of a heart that's filled with fear_

_And if the world won't understand you_

_You can make it disappear_

_And it's a dark secret you carry with you_

_Carry with you_

(Dark Secret)

(Matthew Sweet)

**

"What's the matter?" the girl asked, crossing one leg in front of the other girlishly.  "Don't you want to play with me?"

The tall man stepped forward, his robe brushing the floor as he advanced into the doorway, but the girl instantly retreated, darkness swallowing half of her face and body.  Only her smile remained bright in the shadows.  "Come into my soul.  Come in if you _dare_..."

_I have visited the rooms of many people's souls in the past_, the tall man thought in confusion, _and they have different furnishings and decorations, but always there is always one room!_

"I don't know what power you used to find this place, but you'd better explain why you're here."  The girl's violet eyes became severe as she waited for his answer.

He chuckled.  "From your perspective, I am an unwanted guest.  Answering your question is the least I can do."

"I am waiting," she said, brushing dark hair away from her face.  She stood so comfortably, an obviously old soul in a modern outfit, balanced perfectly on her high boots.  

He held a hand out towards her.  "I came to discover the secret of your Millennium Puzzle."

The violet eyes widened in surprise.  "So you know of the existence of the Millennium Puzzle."

"Yes.  It is one of the Millennium Items, made to punish thieves who would defile the tombs of the pharaohs and steal their treasures.  So says the Pert em Hru."

"I am familiar with the Pert em Hru," the girl said, smiling wryly.  "Moreso than you, I believe."

"Oh?" The tall man's turban disguised the raise of his eyebrow.  "Are you familiar with this?" He held up the ankh-shaped key.

"A Millennium Item?" she asked, cocking her head to one side.  

"The Millennium Key," he clarified.  "It opens the door to one's soul.  In the room of the soul, one discovers everything about a person...who they are, what they love, what they fear...even what they themselves do not know."

"And those would be?" she asked, looking pointedly at the Scales.

"The Millennium Scales weigh the sins of a person on trial." He frowned.  "But even I do not know the power bestowed on the person who holds the Millennium Puzzle--because it has never been solved."

"And so to find out," she trilled, "you entered _my_ soul."

"Correct.  If I can see a person's 'room', I can see what power they possess.  If it is needed, I will draw it into my bloodline."

"As all the kids are saying these days..." she smirked, pulling a silver cigarette lighter from somewhere in the skirt and flicking it to life, "...the hell you will." 

He blinked at her sudden vehemence, watching the flame's light flicker over her face.  

"I've got to give you an A for effort.  The power you speak of _does_ rest in my room," the girl said.  "It's just that I won't let you get to it so easily."

"How do you intend to stop me?" He was curious.

"You know how." She chuckled.  "A _Shadow Game_! Somewhere within this soul is my _true_ room.  If you can find it, you'll find your answers."

He smirked.  "Perhaps now would be a good time to inform you of one other power I hold.  When I enter the room of someone's soul, I can... 'redecorate' and control that person at will.  Whether or not their personality remains destroyed...that is up to me."

She looked sufficiently alarmed, but tried to bluff.  "If I thought you could _find_ my room, I'd worry."

"We shall see, won't we?" he asked.  "I accept your game."

"Done!" Almost carelessly, she tossed the still-burning lighter at his feet.  He stepped away instinctively, but as soon as the lighter hit the ground, the entire room was filled with bright light--

--revealing a maze of staircases, a labyrinth of doors.

"Not so eager, now, are we?" the girl asked with a smile.

The man's turquoise eyes were wide with shock.  _Doors...doors as far as they eye can see...and only one leads to the true room!_

The only way to find out, he decided, was to open every door, one by one.  Boldly, the tall man grasped the nearest knob with a bronze hand and tore open the door.  A challenging violet gaze from the girl pushed him to step a tentative foot inside--

--and then he was jumping backwards to the sound of her laughter as a large stone weight crashed down where he had been standing only a second before.  

_A trap!_ he thought while the girl laughed and held her abdomen as if he were so ridiculous it hurt.

"Do you give up?" she asked.  "Have you had enough?" Her eyes twinkled.  "At this rate, you might get yourself in trouble."

The tall man glared at her, and she dropped her arms to her sides.  "No?" she asked.  "Very well, then.  Good luck.  I await you..."

And like an illusionist deciding she was going to have to perform after all, she faded away slowly, as if she had never been there at all.

"What is this magic...?" he wondered aloud.  But there was no answer.  He was alone with the doors.  

_She seeks to confuse me_, he realized as he tried door after door.  _This girl's soul is so tightly closed against strangers..._

She had said she had known of the Pert em Hru--the Egyptian Book of the Dead.  She had known the Key was a Millennium Item.  How could the sweet, shy girl in the museum have hidden this new dark presence so well?

But it was not the same girl.  Of that he was sure.  Where the girl in the museum had been shy, this violet-eyed witch was brazen.  She moved with the careless grace of a woman who was beautiful and knew it; her confidence was habit, nothing more.  She spoke to him as though she was used to talking down to life.  Perhaps she had once been someone of importance somewhere…

Resolve tightened his jaw.  _But I MUST know.  I must know the secret of the Millennium Puzzle!_

With that thought, he nodded in determination and opened yet another door.  It creaked open and he tensed, but no trap was waiting for him.  The only thing in the room was a simple throne.  The girl was lounging on it, short skirt exposing a long line of thigh, but as soon as she saw him she rolled to a sitting position, looking as though she had muscles in places she shouldn't.

"So we meet again!" he called across the room to her.  "Is this truly you? Have I made it to the true room?"

"You tell me," was her answer, but she did not rise from her throne.  She waited with the endless patience of one entombed as he walked across the room towards her.

As soon as he was halfway across the room, her already wicked smile became absolutely evil, and he realized too late that he'd made a very careless mistake.

Sure enough, the stone floor gave way beneath his feet, and as he stumbled, his weight caused it to collapse further.  Scrambling to right himself only made the hole wider, and finally he lost his footing completely and fell into a yawning dark.  He barely had enough presence of mind through his panic to grab a loose stone on his way down.  

_Another trap!_ he thought in fear.  _If I fall into this darkness, I'll be lost in this girl's soul forever!_

Speak of the devil--she was suddenly above him, circling the hole in the floor like a shark scenting prey.  "Shall I push you in?" she chuckled, kneeling at his side.  Her fingertips played lightly along the only hand that was holding him out of the endless dark, soft, so soft, and then she was offering her own hand to him.

He blinked up at her, the devil in such an angelic pose.  

"Don't worry," she said softly.  "My hand isn't a trap."

Still, he hesitated.  "You have given me no reason to trust you."

"Look at it this way--what do you have to lose?" She offered both small hands, and suddenly her smiling face was deadly serious.  "I give you my word, on all I hold holy.  You will leave this room alive."

Somehow, staring up into those dark violet eyes, he could believe.  He hoisted his arm up and grasped her hand.  She held on tight and leaned back with all her slight weight.  Slowly, she helped him out of the trap.

He knelt on safe stone as soon as he was able, staring at the worn floor of the tomb. His knuckles were raw and scraped--how could that happen in a room of the soul? Lifting his head slightly, he saw the soul room door he had entered through at the very beginning.  How had he ended up back where he had started?

"I had never imagined that _you_ would save me...if it is indeed the _same_ you..." he gasped.  "I am in your debt."

The girl's smile, wicked or not, was gone as if it had never been.  "I don't like your hobby of peeking into people's souls.  I want you to leave.  Right now." She turned away, an indication that the discussion was closed.

He nodded, turning away from her to the heavy door.  "So I have lost this game."

Surprisingly, she spoke once more, turning only her head to look at him, dark hair falling over one shoulder.  "No.  This is just the beginning."

Once again, he nodded.  "You are right.  Farewell." Finally, he turned away for good, exiting through the door.

**

When he came to, those same bronze hands were shaking him.  "Hey.  Hey! Are you all right?"

The museum corridor was full of five o'clock darkness, the glass cases reflecting their silhouettes back at him, one tall and one small.  He was gasping for breath, his brush with death still fresh in his mind.  _I entered this girl's soul to test her, but in the end _I_ was the one who was tested!_

She was still shaking him.  "Are you all right? Sir? Can you hear me?" Her red eyes--yes, red, now, not violet--were wide and concerned.    "You closed your eyes and stopped moving!"

"I am unharmed, little one." Slowly, he rose to his feet.  

"Wow.  You're so pale." She patted one hand over her heart.  "You gave me a scare."

He regarded her evenly with turquoise eyes.  So different from the other her--her crimson eyes, her easy smile, her genuine concern for him.  "You are a strange girl."

Her brows dipped slightly, as if she didn't understand his meaning.

"Oh, I almost forgot..." He reached into his robe and drew a golden pyramid from its folds.  "If I'm not mistaken, this is yours."

Her crimson eyes lit up as if someone had touched a match to them.  "YAY! THE MILLENNIUM PUZZLE!" she cheered, as if it was her birthday and she'd gotten exactly what she wanted.  

He handed it to her, unable to help smiling a little at her jubilation. 

She looped the cord around her slim throat and bounced a little.  "So _that's_ it! _You_ had it! Thank you!" she cried.

He chuckled.  "You don't need to thank me.  I am already in your debt..."

"Debt?" The confused look was back.  Her fingers played absently over the Puzzle, as if they'd done it a thousand times before.  "I haven't done anything."

"It was the _other_ you," he clarified.

The girl's face stilled, and he wondered if the other her was peeking out behind her eyes.

And then she laughed.  

Actually, she _shrieked_, clutching her stomach as if the laughing hurt...much as her other self had.  "_Other_ me?!? No way! _I'm_ me.  I'm the only me there is!" she giggled.

Sick realization slammed into him.  _She hasn't realized the existence of her other self yet! She truly does not know!_

She was still laughing.  "Other me!" she giggled again.

"What is your name?" he interrupted gently.  

"Yami," she answered readily.  "My name's Yami."

_That is it,_ he realized.  _There are TWO sides to this girl's personality, and only when they join will the true power of the Millennium Puzzle be awakened._

"Very well.  Yami," he said, turning to walk away.  "There is something you must do...you must discover your other self!"

Now she looked alarmed.  "What?"

"You have solved the pieces that make up the Millennium Puzzle.  It is your duty...it is your _destiny_...to solve the riddle that is its power." He walked down the corridor, robe sweeping behind him.

"Wait.  _Wait_," she called.  "What's _your_ name?"

He turned slightly, pausing.  "...My name is Shadi."  Chuckling, he admitted, "You are the first to ever know it..." 

"You can't just _say_ something like that and _leave_ me like this," she protested, small bronze hands curling into fists.  "My _other_ self? What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"You will have to seek her out on your own," he told her, turning away to walk down the corridor.  "There is one more person I must place on trial...one more man who has defiled the territory of the gods."

He heard her mutter to herself as she went her own way.  "It's a good thing I'm good at riddles."

**

**Author's Note:**

And now, let's all have a round of applause for Yami-girl, who defeats her enemies without remembering a thing!…

Thus, the mysterious Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle has made her first appearance and had a little fun.  And Shadi's back to square one.

Unfortunately for Yami, he isn't content to stay there…


	10. The Man With The Hex

**Author's Introduction:**

Bad day. Bad, bad day…

So I thought I'd visit with Shadi a bit. If you're feeling cursed, it's good to talk shop with somebody who knows a lot about curses. If there's one guardian you don't want to get mad, it's Shadi. He knows all about games, too, and how in chess _all_ of the other pieces are expendable, as long as the king is the target…

**

**Chapter Ten, Fifteenth Duel: The Man With The Hex**

_You remind me of the man (what man?)_

_The man with the power (what power?)_

_The power of voodoo (who do?)_

_Oh you do, you do (do what?)_

_We can take them out of this wreck_

_Save us from the man with the hex_

_Save us from his evil curse_

_It's gonna get bad, it's gonna get worse._

_Save us, save us_

_Save us from the man with the hex_

(The Man With The Hex)

(The Atomic Fireballs)

**

Yami was lying on her bed, wearing her favorite black velvet dress. She was unsuccessfully trying to nap, her Inuyasha plushie tucked under one long-sleeved arm. She usually only slept with him when she was nervous, but lately Inuyasha had been sharing her bed a lot.

The reason Inuyasha was snuggling with Yami tonight was due to Shadi's words. _He said something about "another me inside of me" and "the secret of the Millennium Puzzle"...I wonder what he meant?_

She rolled onto one side, tucking her chin over Inuyasha. _Shadi...who are you?_

His final words rang through her head. _"I must place on trial one more man who defiled the Valley of the Kings..."_

Yami shut her eyes tight, trying to get some sleep. Unfortunately, Sugoroku's voice jolted her awake again.

"_Yami! This is terrible! Come look at the news!_"

Yami slipped on her sheer black stockings as she padded down the stairs, just in time to recognize a bloated corpse on the television screen, eyes bulging, tongue protruding limply from jaws frozen by death. She gasped, hands flying to cover her mouth. "Mr. Kanekura!"

_"The cause of death is apparently a heart attack, induced by shock. However, the coroner seems to have reason to believe this was not a natural death!"_ the plastic-haired newscaster announced almost excitedly. The next phrase echoed in Yami's ears. 

_"IS THIS THE CURSE OF THE PHARAOH'S TOMB?"_

Yami sank down into a kitchen chair, smoothing her short velvet skirt over her thighs. "..."

"It's depressing to think someone we just met is dead," Sugoroku sighed, pulling out another chair and sitting beside Yami. 

Yami was still speechless. _I didn't like Kanekura, but no one deserves to die like that..._

"Grandpa?" she heard herself asking in a tiny voice. "Do...do curses really exist?"

One of Yami's favorite things about her grandfather was that he was always honest as he knew how to be with her. "Well, Yami, no one knows for sure. When Tutankhamen's tomb was opened in 1923, there were the same kind of rumors...some of the discoverers died mysterious deaths. But it's now thought that the "mummy's curse" was just a sensation stirred up by the media of the time." Sugoroku shrugged. "Still, no one knows the truth."

The old man's mauve eyes darkened. "That isn't what I'm worried about, though. I'm worried because there was one more man involved in the excavation—Professor Yoshimori!"

Yami started violently in her chair. _One more man?! _

_"I must place on trial ONE MORE MAN who has defiled the Valley of the Kings..."_

Sugoroku was still talking. "So, Yami, I'm going to his lab at the university to try and cheer him up."

Yami pushed her chair back and stood up. "May I come too?"

Sugoroku's eyes rested kindly on Yami. "Oh, of course you can! I'm sure he'd like that."

Yami nodded, looking down at the table. _The "one more man" Shadi mentioned probably isn't Professor Yoshimori, but I'll never forgive myself if I don't check it out. I don't know what I'll do if something happens, but who knows? I may be able to help._

Yami slipped her kung-fu flats on and looped her Millennium Puzzle around her neck. Sugoroku got his jacket, and they locked up the store, the twilight breeze ruffling Yami's short skirt around her thighs. Pounding footsteps turned both their heads towards the sidewalk. Joey was running towards them, his letter jacket flapping around him. "Yami! Hey, Yami!"

"Joey?" Yami asked. "What's up?"

Panting, Joey skidded to a stop in front of them. "I just saw the news about Kanekura! And we only just met him! I was gonna come find you and go visit Professor Yoshimori! I bet he knows the details of the case!"

Sugoroku chuckled. "Shall we all go together then?"

Yami started forward suddenly and grabbed Joey's forearm. "Joey...maybe it would be better if you didn't go?" _I just have this bad feeling..._but she didn't tell him that.

Joey's wood-brown eyes grew concerned. "Yami? You okay?" Then his features softened and he laughed, placing gentle hands on his friend's small shoulders. "You're not really worried that I'm afraid of the curse, are you, Yami? I'm not really scared!" 

Yami chuckled nervously.

"Professor Yoshimori showed us around the museum," Joey said. "He's a good guy! I'm worried about him just like you are!"

Yami felt silly. She didn't have any right to deny Joey a trip to the university. He just wanted to cheer up the professor. "You're right, Joey. I'm sorry for acting so weird..."

Sugoroku chuckled and clapped both teens on the shoulder. "Let's be off, then, shall we?"

**

Professor Yoshimori's office was just as dark as a pharaoh's tomb as he buried his head in his hands. _There's no such thing as a curse..._

Flashbacks colored his vision—memories of the discovery of the tomb, the elation at the reward for all the hard work—only to be replaced by the sight of Kanekura's bloated corpse, every hour, on the hour, on the news.

_Motou will be bringing his granddaughter soon...that is good. I've never needed a friend as much as I do today..._

But it was not a friend who was about to come calling on Yoshimori...a dark figure was rising through the very tiles of the floor to confront him.

_Criminal who defiled the territory of the valley of the gods, who profaned the Valley of the Kings..._ Shadi thought. _By Anubis' will, I now put you on trial...gods willing, I will find a shred of guilt..._

Before Yoshimori even had time to react, Shadi had used his Millennium Key to unlock the room of the professor's soul. The darkness of the room was replaced by a new kind of darkness...the tomb in Yoshimori's soul. Shelves full of books lined the walls; artifacts cluttered the floor. 

_His heart is cluttered with his obsession with the past_, Shadi thought. 

The only object that was of any interest to Shadi was a small picture frame, caked with dust. Inside the frame was a picture of the professor's family—a beautiful woman, a smiling little boy. _He has neglected them because of his obsession. He regrets it, but it is too late now._

The room was so dark—fear and anxiety over the museum owner's death. Yet even as Shadi watched, a small ray of light pierced the thick dark. _That is the light of hope_, he realized. _He is waiting for his friends, and that thought calms his heart and gives him hope. Who does he await?_

The vision was pressed into his mind—an older man, a tall blond boy, and—

_Yami! _Shadi thought with a jarring shock. _One of his friends is the girl who solved the Millennium Puzzle!_

Shadi's day was looking up. _I may be able to use this man to draw out Yami's hidden power! I will need the dear professor's help, of course..._

Murmuring a chant, he used the Millennium Key to dispel all personality in the professor's soul, turning the man into a living puppet. 

Shadi smirked. _Come to me, Yami within Yami! The second stage of our game begins!_

**

_Come all ye who seek knowledge_, a plaque at the door of Domino University read.

"It's bad enough to be in school during the _day_," Joey grumbled. "But these places are so spooky at night..."

"Joey, please don't talk like that!" Yami pleaded. "The professor must be worried about what happened to Mr. Kanekura!"

Joey thought about it. "The let's put a big smile on, huh? We won't mention the museum at all."

"Okay!" Yami said cheerfully, knocking on the door. "Professor Yoshmori?"

"Sorry we're late," Sugoroku chuckled. The professor was standing at his desk, his back to them. He turned slowly, his head seeming to follow his body a second too slow.

"_Thank you for coming_..." he slurred with a leer.

"Professor?" Yami asked in surprise.

"We just thought we'd come by to cheer ya up," Joey said. "Y'know, cause you showed us around the museum at all..."

Yami and Sugoroku tensed and Joey immediately realized his mistake. All eyes turned to the professor, hoping he didn't notice, but he spoke immediately.

"_Oh, yes, oh yes...the museum...some...body...killllllled him..._" The professor chuckled. "_Somebody killed Mr. Kanekura!_"

Too late, Yami realized something was very wrong. She wasn't the only one.

"Professor Yoshimori, what's wrong?" Sugoroku barked.

"_There is nothing wrong...I was just waiting..._" was the answer. "_Waiting for YAMI_..." Another wild giggle.

Yami's eyes shot wide. "_What_?"

The gleam in the professor's glazed-over eyes got sicker, and he staggered towards Joey. Yami's nerves all stood on end as she recalled every bad horror movie she had ever seen—zombies almost always attacked just by reaching out.

"Joey! The professor's a monster!" she cried, but it was too late—the professor had locked his hands around Joey's neck.

"Urk--!" Joey gasped, scratching at the professor's hands. 

Yami leaped onto the professor's back, but the man—monster, whatever—gave no notice. She tried to lock her slim arms around the professor's throat. "Let go of Joey! Don't make me hurt you!" she shrilled.

To her surprise, the professor spoke again. "_I want to see the other Yami..._"

"Please excuse my puppet's rudeness..." A smooth voice flowed from the corner of the room.

"_You_!" Yami said, dropping off the professor's back in surprise. "Shadi!" Whirling, she confronted the tall man as he seemed to melt from the shadows in the far corner of the room. "What have you done to Professor Yoshimori?"

Shadi seemed to ignore her. "If my theory is correct, this will bring out the _other_ Yami! So show yourself!"

"Sorry," Yami spat. "Whoever this other me you keep talking about is, she's not here right now. All you've got is me. So _what_ did you do to the professor?"

"Know this, Yami," Shadi said, as calmly as if the professor wasn't in the middle of killing Joey. "I have redecorated the room of that man's soul. He moves only at my will."

As he spoke, Shadi watched the young woman before him grow angrier and angrier. _I had planned to leave this country as soon as I punished the men who defiled the territory of the gods and opened the pharaoh's tomb...but then I met that young woman. Since that time, the feeling of defeat smolders in my heart. I can't leave this country with those embers still burning...I want to see that other Yami with my own eyes! _

But the Yami who was growling at the zombie professor was not the dark presence Shadi had met in the soul room. _I have placed but one thought in that puppet--"Make the girl's friends suffer..." That will push Yami's heart to the limit, and if my theory is correct, when she has no other options, her heart will run out of hope, and her OTHER self will awaken..._

Yami darted forward, and for a minute Shadi was thinking she might hit him. But instead she was reaching for something on the floor beyond him—a globe. "I'll deal with you in a minute," she growled, then whirled back to face the professor.

"_Forgive me!_" she cried, swinging the globe and striking the professor across the back of the head. He dropped to the floor like a broken puppet. Free, Joey gasped for air.

Yami panted, shouldering the globe in case she needed to attack again. "You okay, Joey?"

"Yeah," Joey wheezed. "Thanks, Yami. I almost bought it there!"

Sugoroku knelt by the fallen professor. "What a shot, Yami!"

The girl looked embarrassed. "I hope I didn't hit him too hard..."

Shadi watched them all scatter as the professor jumped back up to his feet like a cartoon monster. "Eek!"

"Split up!" was Sugoroku's immediate plan. Unfortunately, he never had a chance to follow his own advice—Shadi walked up calmly behind him and used his Millennium Key. _Apparently the professor is not enough. I must redecorate another person's soul_.

Shadi couldn't help smiling at Sugoroku's soul room. He was an easy man to like. The room resembled a small shop, and it was full of games. Dice and cards were scattered everywhere, but Shadi was most interested in the object that held pride of place on the counter. A big picture frame, containing a smiling picture of the old man and his granddaughter. Next to it lay a golden box, the Eye of Horus engraved on the sides. Shadi knew that it had once contained the pieces of the Millennium Puzzle, but the smiling girl in the photograph had put those pieces together. Now he would figure out how.

_This man seems to be very important to the girl. Pushing her to her limit will take more than simply threat of violence to her person. I must put in danger someone that she cares about, and that will force the other Yami to come out. She will break when she sees her beloved grandfather without memories of her, or a voice to call her..._

Joey and Yami were busy. Yami was swinging the globe in a wide arc, trying to keep the professor away from Joey. "Keep back!" she said. "I don't want to hit you again. Keep away!"

Joey had a plan. It wasn't a good one, but it was all he could come up with. _It's only a matter of time before that zombie gets Yami and Gramps. I can't let that happen!_

"Hey, ya old bookworm!" he yelled, making a goofy face at the zombie professor. "Ya wanna piece of me?"

Yami watched in comical horror as Joey began to do the chicken dance in front of the open doorway. "Joey!"

"Come and get me, zombie man!" Joey taunted, quitting his dance to run out the door into the hallway. Groaning, the zombie followed, lumbering out the doorway.

"_Joey!_" Yami shrieked, but before she could follow, a voice interrupted.

"You have a good friend, Yami," Shadi said. "He would save you by sacrificing himself..."

"Shadi!" Yami growled. 

"You are loved by many, Yami Motou," Shadi said, "most of all this man." He had a hand on Sugoroku's shoulder like some obscene family portrait. Yami's eyes widened as she saw her grandfather standing motionless before the tall robed man, his eyes dead and dark. 

"Grandpa!" Yami shrieked, leaping for the old man and clasping hands on his shoulders. "Grandpa, it's me, it's Yami!" But the old man's eyes remained blank and empty.

"Call all you like," Shadi said mildly. "He'll never hear you."

"Jii-san," Yami whispered tearfully. It broke her heart to see the old man's eyes, which had always rested kindly on her, look so dead and empty. She remembered the day she'd realized how much he loved her, the day she'd gotten kicked out of Rintama High School...

**

_Sugoroku hadn't yelled. He hadn't scolded. He'd simply driven her home the same way he did every time he'd been called to meet with her principal. Despite his asking how her day had been without calling attention to her torn blouse, she sat in stone silence most of the way home, curling up as much as the car seat would allow. The light blinked to yellow at the intersection and Sugoroku braked, sending Yami forward almost into the dashboard. _

_A minute more of silence passed as the light turned red. _

_"He said I led him on. I didn't lead him on. He was just mad that I hit him."_

_Sugoroku didn't say anything. The light turned green, and he suddenly put the car in park._

_"Grandpa?" Yami asked, eyes widening in alarm._

_"I'm going to let you drive," was the old man's response, his eyes twinkling as he smiled at his granddaughter. "You want to drive?"_

_The car behind them blasted its horn. Yami quickly opened the passenger's-side door, switched sides, and took over driving—badly. Sugoroku smiled and relaxed in the passenger's seat, not criticizing, not giving corrections, simply letting Yami try to maneuver the metal beast home, lurching and jagging down the Domino streets._

**

"What have you done to my grandfather?" Yami whirled on Shadi, tears beading brightly at the corners of her eyes. "Shadi! What have you done?"

"I have redesigned the room of his soul," Shadi announced. "He is now a puppet who cannot move without my will!"

To Shadi's immense surprise, Yami let go of her grandfather and stretched her arms out, looking remarkably like the zombie professor. Locking her small hands as much as she was able around Shadi's throat, she began to shake him.

"_Son of a bitch! You son of a bitch!_"

Shadi couldn't help but chuckle as he easily broke the girl's hold on his throat. "That is it, little one! Let your blood burn with anger! Let your body shake with sorrow! And _call her forth! The other Yami!_"

**

Joey sprinted down the corridor, huffing and puffing. "Damn, he's fast!" Taking a wide turn round a corner, he decided that he'd led the zombie far enough away from Yami and Grandpa. Skidding to a stop, he turned and let the professor run right into his fist. The professor went flying backwards, sliding on the tiled floor. 

Panting, Joey knelt by the fallen professor. "Did that do the trick? Y'all right now?" 

Unfortunately, the professor shambled to his feet, just like before. 

"Oh, holy holy holy holy holy _crap_," Joey said through gritted teeth as he whirled to begin the chase again.

**

Shadi held Yami at bay as if she were a tiny struggling kitten. "I _hate_ you," she hissed. "I hate you! Son of a bitch—you son of a bitch! I hope you choke and die!"

"Then let these words be the final trigger," Shadi says. "If I ordered this man to die, he would die!"

Shadi had been right—that was it for Yami. She clamped her hands over her ears and screamed, the sound a wail of pain in the dark, echoing room as she fell to the floor and curled up on herself.

Shadi blinked. Had it been too much for her? Had he broken her?

There was only one way to tell. He took a step closer to the fallen girl--

--and jumped back in surprise as a hand grabbed his ankle, a grip like steel. She pulled herself to her feet, murder in her—_violet—_eyes. Shadi smiled in triumph. 

"So we finally meet in this world...Yami within Yami."

"Enjoy meeting me in this world," the velvet-dark voice said. "You will not remain in it long."

Shadi chuckled, as if she hadn't just threatened to kill him. "Now the second stage of our game can begin..."

"Is that why you have done all this?" she asked. "A game?"

"You should understand it better than anyone else," Shadi said. "After so many years, games are...all that matters."

"Not anymore," the dark Yami answered, her eyes begging for blood. "People matter now. Things matter. And I'm going to prove to you just how much..."

"I look forward to it," Shadi said solemnly. 

**

**Author's Notes:**

A chapter full of references!…And here they are:

**The Inuyasha plushie:** I actually don't have an Inuyasha plushie, but it's become one of my dreams to get one. I keep looking and they're either out of stock or I get outbid on Ebay. I _did_ just buy a Naruto plushie, though, to my extreme delight, and he might make an appearance in a later chapter. But never to rest until I have Inuyasha, too!

**The plaque at the Domino University entrance: **I went through high school with "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and was devoted all through the downward spiral of season four, the atrocity that was season six, and remained devoted right up until the series finale. In season two, "Passion", when Angel returns as evil Angelus, Ms. Calendar wonders how he got into the school without an invitation. But the answer comes to her in a burst of clarity--the plaque at the entrance of the school, where a Latin phrase can be translated to, "Come all ye who seek knowledge". I thought I'd throw it in here as homage to one of the greatest shows ever. It _is_ true, anyhow--Shadi _is_ seeking knowledge of the other Yami and the powers of her Puzzle! *shrugs, smiles.* Used without permission of the "Buffy" execs. But I won't tell if you don't.

**The chicken dance:** There is no reference to the chicken dance in my daily life. I just laughed so hard picturing Joey doing the chicken dance in the hallway of Domino University. *giggles.*

**"Holy crap…":** When Joey says this, it is a reference to one of me and my friends' lunatic pastimes: www.homestarrunner.com's Strong Bad. Go to the Spin n'Say in the Games section to hear Strong Bad say, "Holy holy holy holy holy, CRAP." And prepare to be wildly amused. *giggles again.* That's used without permission, but hey, I'm giving them a shameless plug, right?

**"I hope you choke and die":** This is purely a coincidental phrase coming from Yami, but after I'd written it I realized why I say it so much when I'm angry--it's a line from Brand New's affront song to Taking Back Sunday, "Seventy Times Seven". The fact that I know the whole story behind that proves I'm a tad obsessed when it comes to my music. Again, used without permission, if you can call it used.

So many references! Hope it didn't offend anyone, but I hold with Sugoroku Motou's theory on the heart of things: putting a little bit of yourself into anything you care about. *smiles.*

Next chapter: Shadi challenges Dark Yami to his dangerous game, and now _she's_ the one up the creek without a paddle. Hell, without the canoe.


	11. Domino Dancing

**Author's Introduction:**

Shadi begins his dangerous game, and Dark Yami has finally set foot in the real world…

Ra help Domino City. *chuckles.*

And where's Joey, anyway?…

**

**Chapter Eleven, Seventeenth Duel: Domino Dancing**

**

_I hear the thunder crashing_

_The sky was dark_

_And now a storm is breaking_

_Within my heart_

_All day, all day_

_Watch them all fall down_

_All day, all day_

_Domino dancing_

_All day, all day_

_Watch them all fall down_

_All day, all day_

_Domino dancing_

(Domino Dancing)

(The Pet Shop Boys)

**

The room was as dark as the glare of the girl in its corner.  Sugoroku Motou remained still and hypnotized at Shadi's side, immune to the danger at his shoulder and the sudden change in his granddaughter. But it was not truly his granddaughter that was now staring furiously at Shadi. 

Once again it was the darker, angrier Yami that was narrowing wild, thickly-lashed violet eyes at the intruder. Her stance was that of a predator, and her whole body was tense, as if any minute she would leap across the room and gash his throat open.

"I needed to see you again, Other Yami," the tall man said calmly. "Now that you're here, the time has come to finish our battle...in a _Shadow Game_!"

"The last time you and I faced off in a Shadow Game, you didn't do so well," the dark Yami countered, one dark brow raised over a violet eye as she crossed one leg behind the other to pose. "I think the judges would have given the duel to me."

"There are no judges here," was Shadi's answer. "The last time we met, I searched the room of your soul, trying to determine the source of your power, but you forced me out."

Dark Yami seemed pleased with herself for that, a small smirk playing around her heartshaped lips.

"This time," Shadi vowed, "I will try your power in the real world!"

Dark Yami frowned. "Now that the shoe's on the other foot, I suppose I have no choice but to accept."

"If you do not, your grandfather will remain my puppet forever," Shadi pointed out. "The game will begin in ten minutes on the roof. I will go on ahead and make the preparations. Fortunately all of the tools I need are here in this archaeology lab. Come when the clock strikes eight." 

Dark Yami's eyes flickered to the clock on the wall, where the pointed minute hand was resting on the eleven. Ten minutes.

"I await you." Shadi left the room in a swirl of robe, Sugoroku at his heels. It was hard for the girl to watch her grandfather follow her foe like an obedient puppy. But she said nothing, turning away haughtily.

Dark Yami tilted her angular face up to the clock, watching the minutes die away. _Shadi...why is he so determined to test my power? Does his "bloodline"...whatever group he says he represents...want to USE my power? _

A frown crossed her already stern features. _Or do they want to ELIMINATE it?_

She caressed the Puzzle around her throat absently with small bronze hands. _Even _I _don't know the full extent of my Puzzle's power. But I do know two things: One, the power of this Puzzle is somewhere inside me, hidden in the true room of my soul, and it's MINE. Two..._

She whirled in a swirl of velvet skirt, flats soundless on her way to the stairs. _Two: YOU, Shadi, are my ENEMY. And those I cannot rule--I conquer!_

**

Domino City lights glittered like shattered glass beneath Sugoroku's feet. His sightless eyes couldn't see the lights, didn't know that only a slim wooden plank was keeping him from falling to his death.

"_Grandfather!_" Dark Yami cried, bursting out of the door that led onto the roof. Shadi's head turned at the sound of her voice, watched the horror on her face as her wide violet eyes took it all in--the old man teetering unknowingly between life and death, the rope stretched taut between his hand and the chain-link fence that surrounded the roof, where the ankh-shaped key held court over a small kingdom of stone figures with hieroglyphs carved into them.

"Let us begin, Other Yami," Shadi challenged, his cloak unfurling behind him, the color of the moonlight. "_The trial of the mind!"_

But Yami wasn't ready to begin. She sprinted the length of the roof to the chain-link fence, curling her fingers through it. "Grandfather!" Whirling, her skirt rippling like shadow in the wind, she called to Shadi. "Shadi! How _dare_ you put him in danger! Stop this now!"

"You agreed to the game." Shadi shook his head, earrings shivering beneath his lobes. "It is far too late to turn back."

"What are the words I'm searching for...?" Yami growled in frustration to herself. "What are the words...??"

"Your grandfather's fate lies in your hands now," Shadi explained.

Dark Yami looked positively panicked. "You're _not going to use him in our game!"_

"I am, Yami. If you lose this game, it means his death." Shadi was maddeningly calm. "The only way to save him is to _win!_"

Dark Yami's equally dark eyes went positively hateful, and she found the words she had been missing. "_Fuck you!" Yeah, those were the words._

"Before I explain the rules," Shadi continued as if Yami hadn't spoken, "I want to say one thing about the Millennium Puzzle."

"I'm going to kill you!" Dark Yami threatened wildly.

Again, Shadi continued as if she hadn't spoken. "I don't know how you got your hands on the Millennium Item, let alone how you managed to complete the Puzzle that no one has been able to solve for three thousand years."

"Maybe I'm just that good," Dark Yami growled.

"You make jokes," Shadi said. "You seem to think it is a coincidence, but you are wrong. The Millennium Puzzle _chose you!"_

Dark Yami's wild, wild eyes flickered down to the Millennium Puzzle, and she cradled it in one hand as if she would protect it from Shadi. "Chose me?"

"After waiting three thousand years," Shadi continued to explain, "my bloodline, too, has been chosen to wield the power of the Millennium Items."

"Oh, _that_ is quite enough!" Dark Yami cried, hands to her head. "I won't listen to any more of your lunacy. Don't you _dare_ try to say we're some sort of _allies!_"

"Is it so impossible to think of?" Shadi asked mildly.

"It sure is, because I hate you," Yami spat, violet eyes narrowing.

Shadi chuckled and shook his head, earrings shivering in the wind. "So reckless."

"Shut up," Dark Yami screamed. "Shut up and start the game! Tell me the rules, so I can get straight to crushing you!"

The more upset Dark Yami became, the calmer Shadi seemed to become. His turquoise eyes shimmered suddenly, bright pools in his dark face, resting more gently on the girl. "Don't be afraid, Yami."

She chuckled wildly, posing and turning up her nose at him, one hand curled on her hip. "Me?! Afraid?! You wish!"

Shadi's turquoise gaze was one of someone who had seen almost everything twice. "Somewhere in your heart, you are afraid of that power. You fear the unknown power of the Millennium Puzzle. _That is the weakness of your heart!"_

"You lie!" Dark Yami screamed.

"The proof lies before you!" Shadi challenged, pointing towards the chain-link fence-no, to the Millennium Key.

As Dark Yami watched in horror, one of the small stone fingers cracked and exploded apart in a shower of rock bits. Dark Yami gasped, but the sound was lost as one of the ropes holding the plank in place whipped loosely to dangle beneath Sugoroku's feet.

"What the--!" Dark Yami's violet eyes were frightened. "How did the statue break on its own?"

Shadi shook his head, as if she had disappointed him. "Yami...don't you realize that the game has already started?"

Dark Yami tensed. "Explain yourself."

Shadi spread his arms wide to indicate the rooftop and all it contained, the focal point being the wooden plank that held Sugoroku aloft.  "Your grandfather is standing on the bridge of life! It is supported by four ropes attached to four _ushebti. You remember the __ushebti, don't you, she who is so well-versed in the ancient scriptures? The servants of the pharaohs?" His turquoise eyes twinkled._

Dark Yami frowned, eyelid twitching as she realized he was mocking her. "Their name means 'those who answer'."

"Good girl." Shadi smirked. "But _these __ushebti are the reflection of your heart!"_

The dark one's hand fled to the heart in question as she listened.

"When you show the weakness of your heart, the _ushebti_ will _answer that weakness, and _break_, one by one!"_

Dark Yami glanced at Sugoroku. "That means..."

"That means," Shadi interrupted, "that when the four _ushtebi_ that reflect your heart all shatter and fall, your grandfather will fall as well. And now there are _three_!"

"This game is sick," Dark Yami offered. 

"You're right about one thing-it's a _game." Shadi smiled. "And you __can win. The four ropes holding the bridge of life are strung through the ring of the Millennium Key, and that Key is supported by an _ushebti_ that reflects _my own_ heart!"_

Dark Yami's mouth fell open slightly as she understood. "If I can break yours before mine break..."

"Then the Millennium Key will slide down the rope and reach your jii-san's hand." Shadi nodded. "If a person who has been 'redecorated' touches the Millennium Key, they shall be restored to their original state. He will be saved, and I will lose!"

_This really is a trial of the mind_, Dark Yami thought, pulse racing. _My little black heart...weighed against Grandfather's life!_

The wind howled, swirling around the two opponents, ruffling Shadi's pale robes and turning Dark Yami's night-black skirt into ocean waves. 

"Well?" Dark Yami asked. "Are we going to start?"

Shadi smiled. "We have already begun." 

And with that, the rooftop beneath Dark Yami's feet began to crack and split. She looked down in alarm, then shrieked as a hand shot through the fissure. Yami began to back away, first slow steps, then faster. A small shriek escaped her as more decaying hands began to claw their way out of the concrete to scratch at her ankles. 

"No! No!" Yami panicked, scratching wildly at the rotting hands as they clung to her legs and used her to pull themselves out of the rooftop. She tried to detach one hand and came away with a handful of dead skin, her eyes widening in horror.

"This is too disgusting!" she cried as Shadi watched calmly.

The hands were attached to arms, and the rooftop became a graveyard, decaying zombies pulling themselves out of the stone and climbing up Dark Yami's small body, pulling at her skirt and clinging to her sleeves. "Keep away from me, you bonebags!" she hissed, struggling against their dead grip.

"Answer my riddle!" Shadi's voice was barely audible over the wind and the moaning of the animated corpses. "Answer me, Yami! '_What creeps on the ground and clings to the pillars?_' Then you will know what surrounds you!"

Dark Yami's eyes were bright beneath a zombie's splayed fingers. She wrenched the dying hand from her face and looked down at the suffering corpses, surging around her like a living--dying--ocean. She squeezed her wide eyes shut and gritted her teeth, a mewl escaping her.

One of the _ushtebi_ began to crumble.

Shadi watched calmly from the other side of the roof. To his vision, Yami was panicking in a sea of nothingness, clawing at the air and beating imaginary enemies away with her small hands. _You are trapped in the illusion, Yami. When you show the weakness of your heart, you will DROWN in that illusion and ALL of your ushebti _will shatter!__

He watched the struggle in the girl's face, her fear, her loathing of what she saw and felt. _In the Shadow Games, those with weak hearts always lose, Yami! You have been chosen by the Millennium Puzzle! You MUST know that! The only way to defeat the illusion that surrounds you is to hold your heart strong and answer my question. Find the true nature of the illusion!_

The zombies had nearly overtaken Dark Yami. More and more of the decaying hands began to claw at her face, causing her to shudder violently. Her mind raced, her pulse hammering in her throat. _That which creeps on the ground and clings to the pillars..._

One violet eye was covered by a rotting hand. The stench of dead flesh crawled down her throat and wouldn't let go. Dark Yami threw one arm over her nose and mouth and gagged. _So real...I can't!..._

_Jii-san!..._

Her groan of frustration and fear matched the groans of the zombies. _Damn it! Damn it! This is all just illusion, and I can't break free! Is this what Shadi meant--is that the weakness of my heart?!_

Opening her free eye, she saw an open mouth, broken yellow teeth coming closer and closer, decaying tongue lolling like a worm. Dark black liquid spilled from the dead mouth...

_The riddle! The riddle! _It was getting harder to concentrate. _That which creeps on the ground and clings to the pillars...That which creeps on the ground and clings to the pillars..._

A hand gripped her shoulder and pulled, nearly dragging her under. By sheer force of will Dark Yami stayed on her feet. _"That which creeps on the ground"...is THESE ZOMBIES..._

The one free violet eye slid closed in concentration. When she couldn't see the zombies, they were that much easier to ignore. _The zombies creep on the ground and cling to--_

A hand on her face, and the stench of death...

_--ME!!_

The groans rose around her, louder than the howling wind. They were going to eat her...

_Am I the pillar? I'm the pillar...I'm a pillar, and what drops from me, clinging to the ground..._

A hand covered the other eye, leaving her face almost covered completely. She was barely able to breathe. 

_You disappoint me_, Shadi thought, seeing the girl fold up a little, like a flower at night. _You are not as strong as I th--_

"_Shadow!_" Dark Yami shrieked, throwing her head back like a drowning swimmer surfacing, gasping in air. "_Shadow! The illusion's true nature is my shadow!_"

And suddenly, in a swirl of night breeze, the zombies faded away as if they had never been. Dark Yami drank in handfuls of air, closing her eyes and tilting her face to the indigo sky. 

Shadi allowed his turquoise eyes to widen a little in appreciative surprise. "Very good. Somehow you've managed to clear the first stage. But I was just trying you out."

Dark Yami arched a brow.

Shadi laughed, issuing his next challenge. "Can you keep your heart strong?! The next stage is ever _harder!"_

Dark Yami didn't have time to ask any questions. Once again the rooftop was splitting beneath her feet, crumbling away to reveal a yawning dark. 

"What the--!!" Dark Yami scrambled back from the widening hole in the rooftop, staring down into its abyss. Two dimly glowing lights began to swim up through the depths of the blackness...heading straight for her.

_Can this GET any worse?! _she thought wildly.

**

Joey sprinted down the length of the corridor, skidding at the end and turning a corner like a Formula-One racer. The zombie professor was still in hot pursuit. "Jeez! Can this _get any worse?!"_

**

**Author's Note:**

Meanwhile, Joey…is still running! *smiles.*

It's official.  The hardest word to remember how to spell correctly is "ushebti".

Next chapter: Dark Yami continues to trade insults with Shadi…and there might be some more game-playing thrown in there, too.  Now if only I could get Joey to do the chicken dance again…


	12. Interlude: Vampires Will Never Hurt You

**Author's Introduction:**

Just a little something fun I thought I'd throw in to celebrate my favorite holiday--Halloween. *grins a  fanged grin.* I'll be roaming the city streets, painting the town my favorite color in leather and buckles and my tiny Millennium Puzzle charm *smiles* but with a pair of fangs for good measure. 'Tis the season, right?

Happy Halloween, everybody!

**

**The First Interlude: Vampires Will Never Hurt You**

**

_And now the nightclub set the stage for this they come in pairs she said  
We'll shoot back holy water like cheap whiskey they're always there  
Someone get me to the doctor, and someone call the nurse  
And someone buy me roses, and someone burned the church  
We're hanging out with corpses, we're driving in this hearse  
Someone save my soul tonight, please save my soul..._

(Vampires Will Never Hurt You)

(My Chemical Romance)

**

"What'd you get?"

"Sora" rummaged in his plastic pumpkin and fished out a Charleston Chew.  "Aw, man.  I hate these things." He turned to his friend.  "I'll trade you for your Snickers."

"No way!" "Riku" held his bag high above his friend's head.  "You can't have it!"

Joey Wheeler pouted, swinging a cardboard Keyblade at his friend.  "You owe it to me.  How come _I_ had to be Sora?"

"Because Riku deserves to be played by someone _cool_," Tristan Taylor answered, adjusting the two belts that crisscrossed his chest.  "And you're _totally_ goofy enough to play Sora!"

"_That does it!_" Joey raised his cardboard Keyblade high, aiming for Tristan's blue wig.  "You're gonna get it now."

"Guys!" The final member of the party--Yami, as Kairi--threw herself between them as usual.  "Come on, cut it out, or I'm taking both your bags of candy."

Immediately the boys straightened up and promised to be good.  Yami knew all the best threats.

"How much longer should we go?" Tristan asked, pawing through his bag.  "My bag's almost full."

"And I'm freezing to death in this costume," Yami added, shifting her weight from one sandaled foot to the other and shivering in her white tank top and purple wrap skirt.  "Sora, Riku and Kairi lived on a tropical island, but _we_ don't!"

"Let's go a little longer," Joey petitioned, adjusting his Mickey Mouse shoes.  "I keep getting Twizzlers."

"You can trade them to me when we get back to my house," Yami said, shaking a plastic container that looked like Chibi Moon's Lunaball.  "I've got lots of Snickers."

"Rock!" Joey cheered, pumping his fist into the air. 

"Wanna try that house up there?" Yami pointed a long, tanned bare arm towards a house down the block.  A grinning carved pumpkin flickered on the front porch.  "It has a jack o'lantern out front."

In true Riku fashion, Tristan started jogging down the block towards the house.  "Come on, I'll race you!"

"Hey!" Joey yelled.  "That's not fair, I wasn't ready!"

Yami followed, her sandals clacking on the sidewalk.  "That makes the score ninety-nine to zero.  Advantage: Riku!" she giggled.

"No FAIR!" Joey bellowed, putting more steam on, but suddenly Tristan stopped running abruptly.

Joey smacked into Tristan from behind, not having enough time to skid to a stop in his enormous shoes.  Likewise, Yami smacked into Joey, and like the Scooby gang they all tipped over onto what had made Tristan stop short.

"It's a kid!" Tristan exclaimed, crawling out from under Yami and Joey and adjusting his wig.

"What?" Yami rolled off of Joey and saw that it was true--a little boy sat sniffling on the concrete, rubbing at his eyes with his small fists.

"Huh?" Joey got up from his knees.  Yami stayed on hers and inched closer to the boy.  "What's the matter, pal? Are you lost?"

The boy turned his face up to Yami, huge violet eyes shimmering with tears beneath a shock of thick black hair.  

"Are you oka--huh!"

Without warning, the boy had lunged forward and hugged Yami, clinging tightly to her.  Joey and Tristan immediately dove onto him and tried to pry him off of Yami.

"What are you doing to my friend?" Joey demanded, gripping the kid's shoulder.

The boy gulped and turned to Yami.  "Please! You've got to help me.  There's this creepy guy chasing me and he won't leave me alone! I'm scared."

Joey and Tristan, buoyed by their chance to be heroes for a night, changed their minds about the kid.  "No prob, pal," Joey boasted, slinging his cardboard Keyblade over his shoulder.  "We'll watch out for ya!"

"Yeah!" Tristan said, making a fist.  "No one'll mess with you if you're with us."

"See?" Yami smiled, patting the boy's shoulder.  "It's all right.  We'll take care of you."

The boy smiled and sniffed, wiping at his eyes.  "Thanks.  You guys are so nice."

They got to their feet and started walking down the block, trick-or-treating forgotten.  "What's the guy who's after you look like?" Tristan asked.  

The boy took a deep breath.  "Well, he's tall, and I couldn't see his face because he was wearing a mask."

"What kind of mask?" Yami asked.

"It looked like--" Suddenly the boy's violet eyes went wide and he pointed.  "--_That!_"

As one, Yami, Joey and Tristan all turned to see a figure leap out of the bushes, brandishing a chainsaw.  The boy dashed away from Yami's side, little legs carrying him quickly out of the circle of light from the streetlamps.

"Hey!" Yami cried, reaching for him, but it was too late.  He was gone.

The sound of the chain saw roaring to life brought everyone back to the situation at hand.  Yami saw herself reflected in their attacker's metallic hockey mask.

"Back off, man, or I'll put the big hurt on ya!" Joey threatened, holding his Keyblade at the ready.

"_Joey_," Tristan hissed.  "That's _cardboard_."

"Oh, yeah." Joey looked at the Keyblade, and then at the man in the hockey mask, who held up his chainsaw and pointed at it.

Yami, Joey and Tristan all looked back at the Keyblade, then nodded at each other.

"_Aiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeee!!_" all three teens screamed, clutching their candy and sprinting past the houses, back towards the Kame Game Shop.  The sound of the saw was not nearly loud enough to drown out their cries of panic, which could be heard for blocks.  The chainsaw man raised his weapon to the sky in a victory stance, tall beneath the half moon.

When the three teens were gone and their howls could not be heard, a chuckle trickled from under the mask as the chainsaw man turned to the bushes.  A rustle was heard and the young boy climbed out, brushing leaves from his jeans.

"Get anything?" the younger boy asked.

"Nah." The words were slightly muffled by the mask.  "They didn't drop their bags.  Wheeler left this behind, though." He touched something on the sidewalk with his toe--Joey's cardboard Keyblade.

The younger boy snorted.  "Some heroes! They couldn't protect their way out of a paper bag!" He picked up the Keyblade and twirled it absently, then grinned up at the chainsaw man, who pulled off his mask and shook his head like an animal freed from a harness.  The little boy began to walk at his side.  "You sure scared them, though! You were great!"

"Well, I have been called Heartless in my day." Seto Kaiba grinned down at his younger brother, and they set off for home.

**

**Author's Notes:**

*grins.* Just a little fun I thought I'd throw in there.

Some references: 

The Lunaball that Yami carries her candy in is an actual purse I once saw on a little girl.  Ever since that day I've been searching for something similar with no luck.  

Lately I've been obsessed with Squaresoft's "Kingdom Hearts", and I thought I'd pay homage to it in this chapter because I'm very fond of all the characters and the storyline, as well as the fact that I've been having a bit of a rough time lately, and this game cheers me up immensely.  And don't mind Joey complaining about having to be Sora--I love Sora just as much as I love Riku, Cloud and Squall!

Lastly, a similar incident to Yami, Joey and Tristan's turmoil actually happened to me one Halloween--the year I had dressed up as Alice in Wonderland, a favorite costume of mine.  I was eighteen, and while I was roaming the streets enjoying the night with my friends, a little girl in a fairy-princess costume came flying at me out of the dark and begged me to help her, that a scary man was chasing her and she didn't know what to do.  

Immediately I told her never fear, I was here.  Feeling heroic, I told her I'd take care of the creep lickety-split if he tried for her.  My friends, meanwhile, were telling me I was crazy and an idiot.  "You're going to get killed," one hissed at me from behind her harem veil.

"Nonsense," I said as a black van pulled up behind me.  The little girl screamed as a guy dressed like Michael Myers from "Halloween" came out.  My friends scattered like rabbits.  The little girl ran, and I said, "Hey, wait!" and chased her.  The man chased _me_, and he ended up cornering us in a driveway, a dead-end.  I put up my fists and prepared to fight, saying, "Bring it, sicko."

Suddenly there's laughter behind me--the little girl.  She walks around me and high-fives the guy, and they get into the van and drive off.  My friends found me still in the driveway sputtering with rage that the little spore had tricked me! *grins.*

And thus, remembering that, I was inspired to write this interlude.  Happy Halloween, everyone!

Stay tuned for more monsters next chapter--the second stage of Shadi's game!


	13. Monster

**Author's Introduction:**

Sorry for the delay...things have been a little odd lately. Hope everyone enjoyed the interlude, but now it's back to business. What's Shadi been up to?...

Oh yeah...

**

**Chapter Twelve, Eighteenth Duel: Monster**

_Everyone's a rock star_

_Look how cool and dark you are!_

_Oh what's become of me now?_

_I want to go another round_

_I want to blow the monster down_

_I want to go another round_

_Cause I am coming up_

_I am coming back_

(Monster)

(Abandoned Pools)

**

Dark Yami stood transfixed as the glowing lights moved closer and closer like underwater swimmers. _Something's down there..._

In the time it took Dark Yami to realize that it was in her best interests to get away, the thing had crawled its way nearly to the rooftop. Dark Yami skittered backwards on her heels, eyes wide. _There's no such thing...there's no such thing as..._

Like huge, razor-sharp lightning, two clawed hands burst through the concrete and seized her as if she were a rag doll. _There's no such thing as a—_

_"—Monster!!"_ Yami shrieked, struggling. "Let go! Let go of me!"

Like a terrible fish, something was rising from the depths of the fissure in the rooftop. The two glowing lights became horrible yellow eyes perched atop a snout full of jagged teeth. Ribbons of saliva dripped from the jaws and pooled on the concrete before the mouth gaped over Dark Yami's head. 

"She who is well-versed in the ancient scriptures will remember Ammit, the devourer of the dead?" Shadi teased, his voice far away and dulled by the rising wind. "There is only one way to escape her mighty jaws—_and that is to win! Concentration or death!_" he roared.

"This isn't real," Dark Yami almost sobbed as the clawed hands raised her higher and higher above the concrete rooftop. "Its teeth are sharp and its breath is bad, but it isn't real!" A hysterical chuckle escaped her. 

Shadi nodded solemnly. "That is correct. The beast that holds you, Ammit, is not 'real' in the way you use the word."

Dark Yami seemed to relax slightly despite the claws that gripped her, but the feeling was not to last as Shadi continued to explain.

"But real or illusion, when you feel her teeth bite you, you will _die_," Shadi warned, "and Ammit will consume your soul!" The tall man snickered. "The last meal she had was the soul of the museum owner, not long ago. She must be ravenous indeed tonight!..."

Dark Yami went limp in surprised realization. "You! _You_ killed Kanekura!!"

"And the same fate will befall you if you do not clear this stage and dispel the illusion of Ammit!" Shadi warned, not even bothering to deny it. "Allow me to explain the rules!"

The clawed hands raised Dark Yami higher, crucifying her against the night sky. This gave her a perfect view of nine stone plates that suddenly appeared on the rooftop before her, flipping over like thick stone cards. "Oh, great, now what?!"

"Do you recall the game 'Concentration'?" Shadi called from his place on the rooftop. "You spread out a deck of playing cards and attempt to turn over matching numbers, one at a time. _These_ stone plates have matching pictures on the reverse side."

"Apparently counting isn't one of your skills!" Dark Yami spat. "There are nine plates, brain trust! You need an even number to have pairs!"

Shadi chuckled. "You're right. There is one extra plate in the middle. In this game, you don't have to match pairs. All you have to do is name the picture etched on the center plate. However...you are _not_ allowed to turn over even _one_ of the nine stone plates!"

"That's not fair!" Dark Yami argued, arms still stretched between heaven and hell.

"Did I mention you have five minutes to answer?" Shadi purred.

Dark Yami growled at him.

"Let me tell you the key to the puzzle. Those stone plates are a mirror of Ammit!" Shadi called. "Now shake off your fear and tell me what the picture on the center plate is! Remember, a mirror of Ammit!"

"No, thanks! One of this ugly is enough!" Dark Yami cried, but Shadi could see her brows furrow as her mind clicked into gear. 

_A mirror of the monster_, Dark Yami thought, but it was a bad plan. Immediately the idea of that beast staring into her own face set her pulse to racing. 

Tears welled up in her violet eyes. _It's not fair! There aren't enough clues to solve the puzzle, and I don't know the answer! I can't even think straight! I'm too scared!!_

And with that admission of weakness, no matter how silent, one of the _ushebti_ cracked, beginning to crumble. Dark's Yami's eyes flickered wildly over to the tiny statues tied to the Key. _No! No! If I show any weakness, Jii-san will fall! There are three _ushebti _left!_

She gritted her teeth. _I'll save him if _I _have to die!_

_**_

Joey was getting _really_ tired of running. 

His Air Muscles skidded on the tiled floor as a dead end rushed to meet him. _Wuh-oh!..._

Spinning on his heel, he turned to face the zombie professor still in pursuit. Huffing and puffing, Joey held his hands up to form a "t". "Okay! Hold it! Red light! Time out!"

And just like that, the zombie stopped. 

Joey blinked. _Holy cow! It worked! _Rubbing his hands on his jeans, he sighed. "All right, zombo! I'm a man, and I ain't gonna run anymore! Let's finish this! Follow me..." Pushing open the nearest classroom door, he headed inside, turning over his shoulder to make sure the zombie was following. Joey chuckled. "I'm gonna beat you fair and square..."

With a sudden dive and roll, he had the room's fire extinguisher in his hands and was aiming at the professor. "And in _my_ fights, 'fair and square' means 'anything goes'! _Fire extinguisher attack!_" he crowed like a video-game hero.

The spray startled the professor, but he quickly surged forward and batted the extinguisher out of Joey's hands.

Looking around wildly, Joey saw a way to escape. "Going out the window, sorry I can't stay!" he called, diving through the window in a rain of glass, with only the curtains keeping him from falling three floors down.

But someone was up even higher, Joey noticed out of the corner of his eye. A man he knew...

Sugoroku Motou was balanced on a wooden plank, high above Joey's head. He was standing still as stone and would fall just like one if that plank broke—

_Gramps??_ Joey realized. _What's he doing up there?_

A groan called his attention back to the third floor window as he scrabbled for purchase on the sill. The professor was leering out at him.

"Oh, crap, ya gotta be kidding!" Joey yelled in exasperation.

**

"Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit," Dark Yami growled in exasperation, dangling from the monster's claws.

"One minute left," Shadi called almost boredly.

_Pairs, pairs, _Dark Yami thought quickly. _So the one in the middle doesn't match. When I look in a mirror, what do I see? I see me..._

A vision was pressed into her mind—a mirror of herself with two crimson eyes, staring back balefully...two crimson eyes...

"Pairs!" she gasped. "Pairs. The monster's reflection has two eyes...and ears, and hands..."

Dark Yami almost chuckled wildly. The answer was right there, gaping over her, promising death! _"Mouth!"_ she cried. "The monster only has one mouth! _That's_ the center piece!"

And just like before, the illusion dispelled in a swirl of wind and smoke. Dark Yami was dropped unceremoniously to the rooftop as soon as the claws lost their shape. With a small cry, she lay crumpled on the stone.

"Had enough?" Shadi asked, smirking. "You are beginning to impress me."

"I couldn't be happier," Dark Yami muttered, cheek pressed to the concrete, eyes fluttering closed. "Congratulate me, I've impressed the psycho."

"But this is the final stage!" Shadi said. 

"Hurraaayyyyyy," Dark Yami muttered tiredly, not moving.

"Get up and face it if you dare—the most difficult of all challenges thus far!"

"How did I know you were going to say that?" Dark Yami groaned, hauling herself to her feet. A soldier in ripped black nylons and a dark dress, she shrugged the past exhaustion off and faced the tall man, who watched with the endless patience of one who had seen the tomb.

**

**Author's Notes:**

This chapter's musical reference is honorific to Abandoned Pools, who were the first opening act I ever saw that didn't suck. Rarely do I wear CDs out, but that one got a lot of play and I'm grateful it still works!

Other than that, even _I_ don't find a whole hell of a lot that's interesting about this chapter (and I _wrote _it), because it's really a transition chapter to develop the story before _next_ chapter. So basically this author's note is just me begging my readers to forgive me for how long it took to update and to please please keep reading because next chapter it's really going to get interesting again, I promise.

Really. ::smiles::


	14. Second Interlude: Ship to Shore

**Author's Introduction:**

Another interlude...I didn't mean to place them so close, but things have been so crazy lately that I haven't been able to update nearly as much as I would like to. Hopefully now that the semester's winding down, that will change. But at any rate, I am dedicating this interlude-chapter to my friends, who are my family not because I was born into them, but because we all love each other. ^smiles.^

**

**Second Interlude: Ship to Shore**

**

_I'm writing home to tell you_

_That I miss it all so terribly_

_In the way that makes your stomach ache_

_And your hands begin to shake_

_My hands still shake_

_I need to see my friends_

_And I want my family_

_Germany is beautiful_

_But I wanna go home_

  
  


(Ship to Shore)

(The Movielife)

**

Joey Wheeler was an expert on the ceiling in his small apartment. He'd spent over half his life looking up at it.

Some of those times were from various floors throughout the rooms, usually after being belted by the ogre who ruled them. He would stay down there, eyes fixed on that ceiling, the shadows from water damage, the chunks of missing plaster like bald spots, feeling the bruises form and waiting for him to leave, hoping, praying it was over for now. 

Some of those times were spent on the sofa, after the rare times he would follow his father's example and drink himself into a stupor. The ceiling would dance, the way the pretty girls always seemed to, eternally laughing and out of reach. It mocked and teased him until his eyes closed and vomit burned up his throat till he rolled off the sagging sofa to be sick.

The rest of the times, and the majority, were spent staring at the ceiling from the safety of his own bed, wondering what the hell it was all for. Wondering what he had done to deserve this, why he existed if it was just for this.

His gaze wandered from the ceiling towards the window, where late afternoon was shading into evening, the sky lion-colored outside. Everyone else would be sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner right about now, he reasoned. Spending time with their families, who cared about each other and weren't messed up like his.

Or were they?

Joey sat up, blinking. His blue uniform jacket was hanging on the the knob of his closed door. He'd given his old one to his best friend, Yami Motou, because she hadn't wanted to wear the girls' uniform jacket. Looking at his always reminded him of her now.

Yami's family was even smaller than Joey's—it was just her and her grandfather, who ran the Kame Game Shop and was always ready to greet any of Yami's friends with a smile. Yami adored the old man and he her, but Joey knew nothing about her parents. She never mentioned them, and he never asked. He knew better than anyone that sometimes you didn't want to talk about your family situation.

Joey had a feeling that there was a reason Yami was so attached to her grandfather—why she always hugged him so hard, as though she were afraid he might leave her.

Flopping back down to lay on the bed again, Joey wished for the millionth time that he were rich, so he could get out of this place...

...and go where?

If he leaned very far out his window, he could see a distant ghost of a mansion rising along the edge of Domino City. Everyone knew who lived there.

And yet, again, it only contained a small family, two brothers. What was Thanksgiving like in that house? Could the Kaiba brothers even talk to each other from opposite edges of their undoubtedly huge supper table? Was it more like family to have a multitude of servants filling the house with people?

Rolling over restlessly, Joey closed his eyes and prayed for sleep. Not for the last time.

But it was not to be. He was roused from his rest by a sound—a ringing telephone.

Sitting up quickly, Joey held his breath, hardly daring to hope. Could it be?

Timidly, he reached for the telephone on his nightstand, fingers shaking as he lifted it from the cradle. "H-hello?" 

"Big brother?"

Joey let out his breath in a hiss. She didn't notice, only continued, cheerfully connected.

"It's me, Serenity! Happy Thanksgiving! How was your day?"

Joey grinned, unable to help it. "Getting better."

**

**Author's Notes:**

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

I mourn the fact that I never got to see the Movielife in concert before they broke up a few months ago. I know someone who saw them fourteen times and complained it wasn't enough. I don't want to hear it, emo kid! ^giggles.^ At any rate, "Ship to Shore" is one of my favorite songs by the Movielife, because I understand how certain places, whether geographic or metaphorical, can be beautiful, and yet you still want to go home.

Don't worry, Shadi and Yami haven't gone anywhere! They'll be back...^smiles.^


	15. There's No 'I' In Team

**Author's Introduction:**

Finally! I don't know about everyone else, but I for one am getting a little sick of Shadi.

And I think Yami-Girl is too…

**

**Chapter Thirteen, Nineteenth and Twentieth Duels: There's No 'I' In Team**

**

_I can't regret_

_Can't you just forget it?_

_I started something I couldn't finish_

_If we go down, we go down together_

_Cause 'best friends' means—_

_'Best friends' means..._

_And you never knew_

_Well, I never told you_

_Everything I know about breaking hearts_

_I learned from you, it's true_

_I've never done it with the style and grace you have_

_But I've made long-term plans_

_Based on these mistakes_

_Broken down in bars and bathrooms_

_All I did was what I had to_

_Don't believe me when I tell you_

_It's just what anyone would do_

_Best friends means I'll pull the trigger_

_Best friends means you get what you deserve_

_Best friends means I'll pull the trigger_

_Best friends means you get what you deserve_

_BEST FRIENDS MEANS I'LL PULL THE TRIGGER_

_BEST FRIENDS MEANS YOU GET WHAT YOU DESERVE!..._

(There's No 'I' In Team)

(Taking Back Sunday)

**

_I knew there was a reason I hated school!_ Joey Wheeler thought, climbing up the third-floor windowsill like a poor imitation of Spider-Man. "Don't follow me out here, you stupid zombie!" he shouted back to the man who had once been Professor Yoshimori. His voice was snatched away by the rising wind. 

A few feet away on the roof, Dark Yami wasn't having such a great night either.

"This is the final game, Yami!" Shadi announced. It was hard for Dark Yami to hear him over the pounding of her nervous heart. "You have done well to clear the first two stages."

"Thanks for the compliment," Dark Yami muttered, beginning not to care what the tall man said or did. 

"You still have three _ushebti_ holding the man up," Shadi said, looking over to where the three statuettes were still strung around the Millennium Key, against the web of the chain-link fence. "But now those three will _shatter!_"

Dark Yami frowned, brows meeting over her violet eyes. _It's like he already knows all my weaknesses. But can I do the same thing to him? Does he have any weaknesses at all?_

She stared at the tall man with those dark eyes. _What are you afraid of, Shadi?_

"I know what you're up to," Shadi immediately said with a knowing smile. "You may search my heart for weakness, but it will be in vain. My heart's _ushebti_ is like unbreakable diamond, while your heart's _ushebti_ are like alabaster, weak and easily broken!"

"How eloquent," Dark Yami snarled, lips skinning back from her teeth.

Shadi shook his head. "You will understand in this next game. Let me introduce your opponent!"

Dark Yami sighed and looked down at the rooftop, waiting for it to crumble, tear and spit out another monster. Instead, having her head bowed caused her to miss the rising smoke taking form behind her. A familiar form...

As soon as the apparition's hand took shape, it reached out and tapped Dark Yami's shoulder. Startled, she whirled, skirt flapping around her, to see—

"Joey?!"

Joey was standing before her, in his Domino High uniform, his eyes dead and angry, his old frown on his face. With the speed of a striking snake, the ghost-Joey darted forward and seized the Millennium Puzzle, snapping the cord that held it around Dark Yami's neck.

"Does he look familiar?" Shadi asked almost gleefully. "That is an image of your friend, created from a memory in the other Yami's heart. The 'friend' who bullied you in the past has been reborn before your eyes!"

Dark Yami gritted her teeth. She liked Shadi better when he wasn't being eloquent. _The OLD Joey, the bully from the past!...But how did Shadi know?_

As if he had read her mind, Shadi spoke again. "I caught a glimpse of those memories when I visited your soul. Even if you have forgotten, those painful memories will always remain in your heart, no matter how much time passes! Now _play!_ Play the '_Game of Death'_ against your friend!!"

And once again the rooftop shifted. Blocks of stone began to fall away, leaving Dark Yami and the ghost-Joey standing on a cross-shaped section of concrete. Shadi remained safely beyond the yawning gap.

"Well, that certainly looks...bottomless," Dark Yami quipped.

"For all intensive purposes, yes," Shadi quipped right back. "Let me explain the rules. You will take turns throwing the Millennium Puzzle like a die. For each throw, your opponent moves two squares in the direction the tip of the Puzzle points. The first to force their opponent into the pit wins!"

Dark Yami gritted her teeth. _He does NOT expect me to play such a dangerous game with Joey!_

But suddenly her head turned to Sugoroku, still balanced precariously on the wooden board high above Domino streets. Shadi had used her grandfather as a pawn in this dangerous game...who was to say he wouldn't use Joey too?

"Now, Yami!" Shadi called. "Let me see you defeat that painful memory!"

Dark Yami trembled. _I'm sure this Joey is Shadi's illusion...but there's a chance...a small chance that this is the real Joey under Shadi's spell, just like the professor was! I don't want to hurt Joey--I can't take that chance!_

"Joey!" she called, skirt whipping in the wind. "We don't have to play this!"

As an answer, the ghost-Joey leaned in, waving the Puzzle teasingly in Yami's face. "_This is your 'greatest treasure', Yami? What girly crap! Watching you makes me sick! You're out of your mind!_" He grinned a bully's grin at her.

It was too much even for the dark spirit. Her heart thunked hollowly in her chest and tears sprang to her—no, to _Yami_'s—crimson eyes. Her vision went double, and there was a shattering sound. 

Sugoroku stumbled blindly, the wooden board shifting as two _ushebti_ exploded in a shower of stone. Yami's breath caught in her chest as she realized the shattering sound had not been her heart, as she had dazedly thought. However, the truth wasn't much better. Yami suddenly found herself on hands and knees, staring at the shattered pieces of two of her _ushebti_. Tears blurred and unblurred in her vision until she saw that one statuette remained, and her eyes slid closed.

**

_When she opened her eyes, she was drawing back from a kiss, the sensation of his lips still warm on hers. Her vision blurred, and then focused into a tall, tanned dream. His face was angular and his eyes were teasing, but something dark and secret welled in their depths as he brushed the soft pads of his fingertips across her cheek._

_"My pharaoh?" she heard herself say, and her voice was something more and less than its usual sound. Something velvet and old._

_He touched a fingertip to her lips and smiled lazily, the grin of a king. With one strong tanned hand, he suddenly lifted her chin, gaze locked on hers. "One must truly be special to have violet eyes," he said, just above a whisper._

_That was it, and that was all, but somehow in her heart she knew how much it meant. She opened her mouth to say something—anything—_

**

With a jolt, Yami's ruby eyes flew open. The rooftop spun before her, and she knew, somehow, without knowing how she knew, that less than a minute had passed since she'd fainted. Shadi was still waiting with that endless patience, and her grandfather was still balanced on that wooden plank between heaven and hell. 

She took a minute to sort through her jumbled thoughts. The last thing she remembered was Shadi telling her he had "redecorated" her grandfather's soul...and then a blur of images was pressed into her mind. Zombies, monsters.

_We were playing a game...I remember._

She turned crimson eyes to Shadi. _It's a blur...but this man is my opponent. I won't let him win!_

Pulling herself to her feet, she tried to shake off her daze and continue the game. _I wish I felt stronger..._

Suddenly a dark voice seemed to echo back at her from the recesses of her mind. _(No fear! No fear, no doubt! You can do this. You are strong—be strong now!_)

"I will," Yami murmured, glancing once again at her remaining _ushebti_ and at the sneering image of Joey.

_Damn it. That was Shadi's plan—to shock my heart by reminding me of the way things were in the past. I've only got one _ushebti_ left. If I show any more doubt, I'll lose!_

_That will not happen!_

The phrase seemed to echo in her mind, as if two voices were saying it, not one.

Standing as stately as a queen, Yami turned her face up to Joey, regarding him evenly with eyes that were once again crimson.

"_Scared_?" Ghost-Joey teased. "_Fine! I'll go first, ya little baby_."

Yami remained silent, the insult bouncing off her glassy eyes as she watched the Puzzle skitter on the concrete and point to the pit behind her. Calmly, slowly, she took steps away from her opponent, towards the swirling dark.

"_Your turn, Yami,_" Ghost-Joey intoned.

But Yami never turned back to face him. She kept her back turned, still facing the drop, hair flicking in the wind. "I don't want to play this game with you, Joey. I won't do it."

Shadi started forward at this sudden turn of events. "Wait a minute, you little fool," he said, breaking the character of the calm, challenging guardian for a second. "Are you so reluctant that you will jump into the pit on your own?!"

Yami ignored Shadi just as she had ignored the ghost-Joey. If she heard him, she gave no sign. "_Then you pass?_" Ghost-Joey snickered. "_Typical! My turn again!_"

The Millennium Puzzle clattered on the stone, pointing again towards the pit. "_Take another two steps, girly girl!_"

Yami obeyed. Now her kung-fu flats were perched at the edge of the pit. She looked down at it, its darkness seeming to rise to meet her. One more step and she would fall, the darkness of dress blending with the permanence of the pit.

Ghost-Joey sang her name into the night sky. _"Yamiiiiiiii." _He held the Puzzle up high so that it swung back and forth, shiny, then dull, the shiny in the dim light. "_Last chance, Yamigirl. This time you might fall..."_

Yami still refused to turn. Instead she angled a glance at Shadi as she announced in something close to that dark velvet voice in her head,

"**_I pass._**"

It was too much for Shadi. "Some queen of games! Are you _throwing_ the match?! Do you admit your _defeat_?!"

A small smile played around Yami's heartshaped lips. "_What_ defeat?" she asked, with emphasis on the "what", as if she knew full well what was going on. "I'm not throwing anything. I _trust_ Joey--trust my friend!"

Shadi looked baffled for a second, but it was not to last. Instead he chuckled, with a cruel twist of his mouth. "You 'trust' him. So sweet. However, the fact remains, Yami, that you seem unable to defeat your past. **You _lose_**!"

Yami remained calm, nightdark skirt fluttering in the wind.

"What I was _testing_ in this final game," Shadi continued, "was the weakness of your _heart_ in trusting too much!"

Yami blinked, listening, but said nothing.

"_Trust_ is more easily broken than _ushebti_!" Shadi kept speaking, fueled by her silence. "In the end, friendship is nothing but weak hearts clinging together for solace. If you had sent your friend to the pit, you would have gained _true_ strength…" he finished almost disappointedly, then turned to Joey. "_Now! End the game! Throw the Puzzle for the last time!_"

Ghost-Joey never moved.

"…_What_?" Shadi murmured under his breath.

Smoke began to crawl over Ghost-Joey's coat, his old-gold hair. A small smile crossed his lips as he faded, like all the illusions before him.

"Impossible!" Shadi burst out. "My illusion is disappearing!"

Yami finally turned to explain. "There is no past or present for friendship! If you trust your friends, they will trust you!"

A snapping sound interrupted. Yami whirled in a swirl of short dark hair and short dark skirt. "Grandpa!" She reached out with one hand but there was no way to get there in time. The roof stretched out like a concrete desert, impossible to cross…"The _rope_…!!"

But even as Sugoroku stumbled, something supported the board. Yami skidded to a halt at the edge of the rooftop, panting as she leaned over to see what it was. Magic?

No--Joey!

Joey's mad dash across the building had eventually led him directly beneath the board Sugoroku was standing on--now he held it up with strong arms. "Neva fear, Joey's here! Hang on, Gramps! Everything's going to be all right!"

"_Joey!_" Yami yelled happily.

"_Whaaat_?!" Shadi screeched. _Impossible! It's as if they support _each other.._never hesitating for an instant!_

Shadi's _ushebti _began to crumble, a small crack opening and widening.

Yami faced him from across the rooftop. "Haven't you figured it out yet? _True_ strength of the heart _can't_ be gained alone. The power to trust your _friends_--_that_ is the true strength of the heart."

Her words echoed in Shadi's ears, but did not drown out the small explosion of stone that was his _ushebti _breaking.

Yami's eyes widened. "_The Key! The Key! It'll slide down the rope and Grandpa will be okay!_" She sprinted back to the edge of the rooftop, Shadi forgotten.

It was true--the Key was sliding down the rope to be cradled in Sugoroku's hand. Like a drowning sleeper, the old man shook his head. "Wha…?"

The sight of Domino spinning before him--and the long fall ahead of him--was not a pleasant thing to wake up to.

"_What the hell?!_"

"Urk!" Joey buckled under the weight. "Hey, Gramps! I can't hold on forever--do a guy a favor and get up on the roof, okay?" he chuckled weakly.

Sugoroku looked down. "Joey?! What are you doing there?" He looked around. "What am _I_ doing _here_?"

"_That_," Joey wheezed, "is what _I'd_ like to know!"

A growl sounded beneath them, and Joey squeezed his eyes shut. "Ohh, no. Please, no…"

Opening one eye, he saw the zombie Yoshimori scaling the wall from the third-floor window.

Gritting his teeth, Joey kicked at the zombie. "Down, boy! Bad zombie! Don't climb up here--"

The board slipped, tilting out of Joey's hands--

--but Yami was there, leaning over the edge of the rooftop, grasping her grandfather's hands. "_I've got you!_"

"Yami!" Sugoroku breathed in relief as he climbed to safety.

Yami had no time to exchange pleasantries--the zombie was pulling at Joey's leg, climbing up onto the windowsill. "Joey! Make the professor touch that ankh-shaped key! Don't look at me like that, just _do_ it!" she added when she saw the blond about to ask a question.

Puzzling at the Key, Joey obeyed, pulling the professor fully onto the windowsill and forcing his hand onto the Key. He only got more puzzled when he saw the sanity return to the professor's eyes.

"You're…Joey, aren't you?" he asked, as though everything were perfectly normal and they weren't backed against a wall between heaven and hell.

Joey arched a blond brow. "Uhhh…yes?"

The professor's hand drifted to his now-rather-toothless mouth…

A scream echoed across Domino.

**

While Joey and the professor were climbing onto the roof, Yami had Shadi backed into a corner.

"You have passed all the tests," the tall man admitted, face pale beneath his turban. "It is my complete defeat."

Yami's face was stern, but she said nothing.

"I used the Millennium Items to show you illusions," Shadi continued, "Illusions summoned from the shadows…and yet, to me, the image of you and your friends _trusting_ and _helping_ each other, here in this world, seems like an illusion…"

A small smile, but a genuine one, crossed the guardian's face. "Somehow, that seems sad."

"I am sorry for you," Yami agreed. Her fingers danced over her Millennium Puzzle, once again safe around her neck. "I have realized something about the power of the Millennium Puzzle," she added. "My friends and I, no matter what, _always_ come together in the end--just like a puzzle! _That_ is our power--**_unity_**!"

Shadi's turquoise eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to say something, but Joey interrupted.

"_Hey, you in the dress!_ Yeah, you! I don't know how you did all this, but this is _our_ place, and I wouldn't poke around here any more if I were you!"

"Yami, are you all right?" Sugoroku asked, his stance one of readiness.

Yami smirked at Shadi. "I'm fine."

Shadi nodded, and turned in a whirl of pale robes. "I have been beaten, but I am pleased," he said in farewell. He turned only slightly as he walked away.

"Yami. My bloodline has been searching for so long…for someone like you."

Yami was confused, lips parting slightly and eyes squinting as she watched him walk away. The words echoed in her head, but in that girlish, velvet voice: _I've been waiting so long…for someone like you._

Joey was also confused, but he was looking at Yami. _Something about her seemed…a little different…tonight…_

He reached a hand to his best friend's shoulder. "Hey, Yami? You okay?"

Yami turned and fixed those endless crimson eyes on him, but before she could answer, Sugoroku interrupted cheerfully. 

"Why don't we all go out to eat? I'll buy."

And with that, Yami was herself again. She jumped high in the air and cheered. "Booyaka!!"

Joey chuckled, shaking his blond head at himself. _Nah. Same old Yami_.

Meanwhile, far below them, the Millennium Key fell from its place on the windowsill to be caught by a strong tanned hand. 

_Goodbye, Yami…we shall meet again_.

**

**Author's Notes:**

Sorry it took so long to update! Like I said, things haven't been too calm lately. I'm trying not to think about the three papers I have due next week. 

I merged duels nineteen and twenty together because, in all honesty I just wanted to get this stupid arc over with. No offense to Shadi, but I feel like I've been on it for ever!

As always, there are a few bits of myself in this chapter. In case anyone's interested, here they are:

**"There's No 'I' In Team"**: Taking Back Sunday owns a small piece of my soul. There's nothing more cathartic, as someone I know would say, than yelling out the lyrics to this song until you deteriorate into screaming the last lines. It doesn't work as well when we bounce the lyrics back and forth over IM, but we manage.

**Yami's outfit:** Yami's entire outfit was stolen from my closet. I finally got all the pieces of together, and it is a new favorite outfit, so I loaned it to her. 

**"Booyaka!"**: Final Fantasy fans might recognize this one. As I've illustrated in earlier chapters, Squaresoft (or SquareEnix or whatever it's called now) owns a _huge_ portion of my soul, especially due to Final Fantasy VIII, which might just be my favorite video game ever. It's in that one where the character of Selphie Tilmitt tries to get the word "Booyaka" to catch on. I don't think it really does, but _I _say it more than even I realize, I think.

It would seem that Yami's troubles are over for the time being…but we as fans know waaaay better than that.

And what was the deal with that strange dream Yami had when she fainted…?

Unfortunately, we might not find out for a while. Next chapter: It's Yami vs. Kaiba…but not the one you're thinking of, the shorter one. *smiles.* 


	16. Wooden Men On The Chessboard

**Author's Introduction:**

And now for something completely different: Answers to some of my reviewers! *smiles.*

To whoever logged on as **Some Person**: While I wouldn't want my brains eaten until they are oozing out of my nose, if I tell you the pairing now, it won't be nearly as fun! Will it?

To whoever logged on **@home**: I didn't include that the mummy in the museum is the pharaoh, i.e. Yami Yugi, because in my story's version of the past, the pharaoh plays quite a different role…

To **Razanur**: I write based on the manga in Shonen Jump, to answer your question--and I am _so_ with you on the Lord of the Rings! I spent _years_, I will tell you _years_, avoiding reading those books, and once I did I loved them very much and found them extremely interesting and got an A on my paper about Eowyn. Listen to "Battle of Evermore" by Led Zeppelin if you haven't already, it was inspired by Tolkien and it's just a hell of a song. "Misty Mountain Hop", too. And thanks for telling me about Yugi's mom--I haven't gotten that far in the manga, so I didn't know. Cool!

To **GomaMizu**: Ohhh…._intents and purposes!_ Silly me! (I'm such a grammar whore *giggles.*) Selphie isn't so bad, but I think we're all glad she's pretty much Irvine's problem and they didn't stick her with my beloved Zell. *grins.* Would you believe I'm wearing Squall's Griever around my neck right now?

To **Elven Angel Andrea**: For the most part, it's just going to be Yami, Joey, and Tristan until Mai shows up for comic relief--I can't seem to write Anzu in correctly because too many alpha females spells trouble for a pack. But "initiating" Mai into the group is a little humorous later on, I hope.

To **JaguarKitty2006**: _No_! Good heavens, no, it's not a Yami/Shadi romance!! Even _I'm _not _that_ brave! *giggles.* The mental voice repeating Shadi's words was the Spirit to Yami-girl, just being grateful she found someone _cool_ to wear the Puzzle, I like to think *smiles.* There will be no Yami/Shadi romance and no same-sex pairings in this story. My brain hurts enough as it is. *giggles.* And I agree with you--Jou got royally mauled in the dub, and it sucks where they put Honda last manga! What the hell, you know??

To **SSJ4 Sailor Menz**: Certainly, I can tell you where I got the kung-fu flats, although you might laugh at me: I found them on Ebay, from a shoe shop in California, for seven dollars *smiles.* Just be careful, cause they'll nail you on shipping costs if you don't pay attention--like I didn't. Watch out!

To **Liviania**: Thanks for liking my music! I try to turn as many people on to it as I can, you know? It's one of my favorite things in the whole world.

To **Nightengale**: Say it with me, now: "I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT, EMO KID!" *smiles.*

So I do read my reviews, ALL of them, and I do care what you have to say, so please keep reviewing! *smiles.* Thank you!

They're all yours, Yami-girl…

**

**Chapter Fourteen: Wooden Men On The Chessboard**

**

_Wooden men on the chessboard get up and tell you where to go_

_And you've just had some kind of mushroom_

_And your mind is moving slow_

_Go ask Alice_

_I think she'll know_

_When logic and proportion have fallen slowly dead_

_And the white knight is talking backwards_

_And the red queen's off with her head_

_Remember what the dormouse said_

_Feed your head_

_Feed your head_

(White Rabbit)

(Jefferson Airplane)

**

"There you go," Yami said cheerfully, leaning over the Kame Game Shop counter to give a brand-new game board to her little customer. "You're all set. When did you get interested in Capmon?"

The small girl wrinkled her nose. "Everyone in my class plays. But I don't know a lot about it," she admitted shyly.

"No problem! I can fill you in," Yami said, holding up some egg-shaped capsules in her slim fingers. " 'Capmon' is short for 'Capsule Monsters'. Each of these capsules has a different toy monster inside." She clicked open one capsule to show the girl. "There are two hundred and fifty of these guys to collect! The numbers on the capsules show the monster's level, from one to five." She turned the capsule to display the number three.

"Is it like chess?" the girl asked, examining the capsules. 

"Right! Two players pick five of their best monsters and pit them against each other on eight-by-eight boards like yours." Yami pointed to the game board the girl was holding. "They're supposed to be the mythical planet Garnaster, and there are fifty different boards you can choose from."

"How do you win if there are no kings?" the girl asked, standing on tiptoe to see over the counter.

"You win by defeating all your opponent's monsters," Yami explained. "And you can't see your opponent's monsters until you start the game. That's what makes it so interesting."

"But Yami," the girl asked. "You guys don't sell any capsules here. How do you get the monsters?"

Yami's eyes twinkled and she leaned over the counter conspiratorially. "Actually, I know a secret..."

**

On her way home from school every day, Yami passed a small candy shop. The candy wasn't so spectacular, but Yami, like most of the neighborhood kids, liked the coin machine out front—it dispensed Capsule Monsters for 100 yen. There was usually a large group of kids around it, and more than one fight had started because of the machine. Today was to be no exception.

"Out of my way, girly girl!" a grade-school kid yelled, pushing Yami out of the way.

"Hey!" Yami cried, clutching her bag as she stumbled. "Um..._rude_!"

"Aren't you in high school?" the kid sneered, nose wrinkling. "You're too _old_ to play Capmon!"

Yami frowned, drawing herself up to her full height—which wasn't much. "Age doesn't mean anything to a _real_ gamer!" She added, "You little brat..." under her breath. 

"Fine! If you want it so bad, go first. _This_ time." The kid stepped aside, smirking.

Yami fished in the pocket of her jacket for a 100-yen coin. She turned the dial, and waited.

Nothing.

"Hey!" Yami smashed a fist into the glass front of the machine. "Stupid machine!"

A shout was heard from the door of the candy shop, and the kids scattered. "Look out! It's old man 'Dentures'!"

Yami whirled to face the owner of the candy shop, a bony old man whose tall and lanky form still managed to be imposing. He was glaring at her, beady eyes narrowing down to almost nothing. "Hey, you! Girl! Don't hit the machine!"

"It _ate_ my money!" Yami protested, bristling at being referred to as "girl". 

"You think I'll let you break it just because you lost a hundred yen?!" the old man yelled. "That machine is expensive! It's worth more than you are!"

Sensitive Yami bristled, but the fight never happened. One more kid parted the crowd, stepping closer to Yami and the machine. While he was no taller than any of the other kids, he seemed to command them with his presence.

"No way!" one kid hissed. "It's Kaiba, the Capsule Monster champion!"

_Kaiba?! _Yami thought, crimson eyes wide as she stared at the newcomer.

The kid advanced towards Yami, finally raising a head of long, thick black hair to glare at her with violet eyes. "So, you're Yami Motou! We meet at last!"

Yami was puzzled. "I didn't know you were eagerly awaiting me," she said slowly, surveying the youngster with a crimson glance. He was wearing a red vest over a striped rugby shirt, and the sneakers beneath the legs of his jeans were very new and an expensive brand. 

The kid laughed menacingly. "Don't rack your brain, girly! You don't know me. We've never met."

"But you seem to know all about me," Yami said pointedly.

The kid smirked. "And _you_ know Seto Kaiba. He's my big brother! I'm **_Mokuba Kaiba_**!"

Yami's crimson eyes shot wide. "Kaiba's little brother!" _I hadn't known he had one!_

"_My_ brother masters _any_ game he plays," the kid contined arrogantly. "He's my hero!"

Yami looked around. The other kids had fallen amazingly quiet since Kaiba's brother had shown up.

"I can't _believe_ that a little _shrimp_ like you actually beat him!" Mokuba Kaiba finished.

Yami's temper blazed, hot and bright. "Hey! Who are you calling a shrimp, pint-size?!" she snarled, curling her hands into fists at her sides.

Mokuba frowned exaggeratedly, like a clown. "You disappoint me, Yami. When I heard you beat my brother, I thought you might be pretty cool...but I guess I was wrong."

Yami sighed, folding her arms to cradle her breasts. _Why do I give a damn what this kid thinks of me?_ "Are you quite done?" she asked coolly, arching a dark brow.

"No, actually." Mokuba sighed, still seemingly disappointed that the girl wasn't living up to the legend. "Since you're here, it seems you like to play 'Capmon'. I'm pretty good—I won the last tournament!"

"Wow," Yami said appreciatively. "I've only just started to play. I'm not that good."

Mokuba smiled sweetly. "Don't be so _modest_, Yami," he trilled, and then his expression turned fierce. "_Get her!_"

Like a grotesque, tiny army, the kids surrounding them produced machine guns from their jackets.

"These are my followers!" Mokuba announced like a small megalomaniac in a rugby shirt. "Don't even _think_ of trying to escape!"

Rather than recoiling in horror, Yami leaned her face close to the nearest machine gun. She looked it over for a second, then glanced over at her nemesis. "This is a toy," she informed Mokuba.

Mokuba gritted his teeth, a bead of sweat trickling down his forehead when he saw that his display of force wasn't having the desired effect. _How did she know that?!_

Yami chuckled. "Please! I work in a game shop, and you don't think I'd know the difference between a toy and a real piece?"

The kids looked nervously towards Mokuba, as if waiting for orders. "Boss?" one asked, unsure of what to do next.

"What are you gonna shoot me with?" Yami teased. "Jelly?"

Mokuba's expression turned furious. "Maybe they're toys—" he said quickly, reaching into his own pocket, "—but _this_ isn't!" He produced a tazer, very much alive and crackling with electricity.

It was Yami's turn to look nervous. "There must be a tazer store around here that I don't know about..." she quipped, putting her hands up. "Okay, you win. Don't shock me, it'll wreck my hair. What do you want?"

"Why, _Yami_," Mokuba said, pretending to be insulted. "I just want to play a game with you!" He turned to the old man. "Hey, Dentures! We'll take this machine!"

"Oh no, you won't!" the old man started, but shut up when Mokuba threw a stack of money down to land beside the machine on the sidewalk. Quickly, the old man changed his tune. "Please come again!" he yodeled, beaming.

Yami snorted as she let the kids lead her away, their small hands clutching her jacket, her hands. She cast one glance at the old man over her shoulder. _Guess I can't count on any help from him, the old goat!_

Mokuba leered at Yami. "I'm going to take you someplace _really_ _special_! Aren't you excited?"

Yami snickered. "Sorry, kid. You're not my type."

"Shut up!" Mokuba gave her a push, sending her stumbling ahead of him. _This is it, big brother. You will be avenged!_

**

They ended up in an abandoned warehouse. "There must also be an abandoned warehouse store around here that I don't know about," Yami quipped under her breath as she was manhandled into a metal folding chair. In front of her was a Capmon board on a wooden crate, and another folding chair across from hers. 

"Don't you see?" Mokuba said, sitting in the chair across from Yami. "You have to play Capsule Monster Chess with me!"

"Is this supposed to be some kind of torture?" Yami asked warily, eyeing the board. "I like games."

"What is _with_ this girl?" one kid asked. "Is it me, or is she actually _enjoying_ this?"

Yami looked over at him, crossing one leg over the other. "Only big wusses and lesser wimps would be afraid of kids _your_ size."

Mokuba had had enough of Yami. "I guess no one's afraid of _you_ then," he growled through gritted teeth.

Yami's eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open as her own insult was turned on her. Then her ruby eyes turned steely and she leaned over the board. "That's it. I'm gonna kick your little punk ass. Let's play!"

"No one insults us like that and gets away with it!" one kid yelled, reaching for Yami's Puzzle. "I'm gonna smash—"

Yami ducked beneath the reaching hand, pressed her own hand flat against the kid's stomach, and pushed. He ended sliding towards the wall on his back. Meanwhile, Yami had leapt forward and pressed one booted foot over his small chest.

Everyone else in the room was on their feet, but Yami was in control. She leaned forward like a predator, slowly, hair brushing over her shoulders like fur. "Have you got anything else to say, my dear?" she trilled dangerously. "No? Then keep your filthy hands away from me and my Puzzle, you little brat."

The kid was pale, eyes wide, chest heaving beneath Yami's foot.

Mokuba fumed from his position on the other end of the board. "Yami, have you forgotten who your opponent is?! _I'M_ the one to beat here!"

Yami turned back towards him with a smile. "You get your arrogance—and your impatience—from your brother."

Mokuba smirked, crossing his arms over his thin chest. "Thank you! And you'll soon see I get my _gaming skill_ from him as well!"

"That remains to be seen." Yami resumed her seat in the metal folding chair. "And we'll also find out if you're as _sore a loser_ as he is!"

Mokuba slammed both hands down on the crate and screamed, "_Don't you talk about my brother that way!_"

Yami's ruby eyes slitted and she leaned over the board. "Then play," she almost purred. "Come on. Put me in my place. Don't you want to?"

Mokuba was wary, but he regained a little of his composure and tried to become as cool and calculating as his brother. "I...I've chosen Battlefield Seven...'Crisis Hill'. It's the board I do best at..." he said, indicating the board with a small, shaky wave of his hand.

"Then you should have no trouble," Yami sighed. "Where are your capsule monsters?"

This seemed to bolster Mokuba's confidence for some reason. He grinned evilly and pointed towards the coin machine, which had taken three of his pint-sized toadies to lug to the warehouse. "If I used my regular collection, there wouldn't be any challenge!" he bragged. "We're going to draw all our capsules from the machine!" He snapped small fingers at one of his "followers". "You! Draw the capsules! First Yami, then me!"

The kid tossed Yami a capsule. "Tch..." Yami wrinkled her nose. "Level one."

"My turn!" Mokuba barked, and when he caught the capsule that was thrown to him, he chuckled. "All right! I got a level five! Good for me, bad for you! And don't complain! _Luck_ is a part of skill!"

"I can't _wait _to teach you how a _true_ gamesmaster plays," Yami purred.

"We'll see who teaches who," Mokuba challenged. "Take a look!"

The five egg-shaped capsules he displayed to Yami were numbered from left to right, four, four, five, five, five. Yami's were numbered one, one, one, two, four.

"It looks like the battle is over before it's even started!" Mokuba chuckled at Yami. _Gotcha, you dumb girl! The machine was rigged! I even paid old "Dentures" to act his part! Now you're gonna get it, Yami-girl!_

Reaching into his vest, Mokuba drew a long, shiny knife. "But before we get going, this game needs a little _danger_ to make it interesting!"

"You're too young to play with toys like that," Yami trilled.

Mokuba frowned. "When you lose, I'm going to enjoy cutting all those pretty fingers off with _this_!" He waved the knife at her and it gleamed shiny, then dull, the shiny in the light. 

Yami held out her slender hands and smiled down at her violet-polished nails. "I have too many rings." Smiling at Mokuba, she ran a tapered finger over the blade. "But if _I_ win, you have to play a _penalty_ _game_ as a punishment!"

"The only game you need to concern yourself with is _this_ one," Mokuba said, arranging his capsules on the board. "You remember the rules, don't you, Miss Smarty-Pants? You arrange your capsules anywhere on your side of the field, but all you know about your opponent's monsters is the level number on their capsules! Now _let's go!_"

With the signal to start, both Yami and Mokuba removed the capsules from the monsters. Mokuba's monsters looked rather fearsome even in small, plastic form. The level five monsters were a giant mouth full of sharp teeth called Head Sucker, a gargoyle with an axe called Gumbo, and a large winged reptile known as Dinosaur Wing. The level four monsters were a horned, bony head called The Skull and a hooded snake, Cobrada.

By contrast, Yami's monsters were almost cartoony. Flower Man, a large blossom with feet, was probably the most nonthreatening. Devil Castle, a castle with teeth, was just as silly-looking as Eye Mouth, a drooling mouth full of teeth with an eye peering from between the jaws. Level two Torigun seemed to be hiding behind its large feathered wings, but at least The Great "Pa" had a sword. Level four seemed to have its advantages.

_Yami's layout is like a beginner! _Mokuba's violet eyes slitted in early victory as he surveyed the board and its pieces. "I'll go first!" His small fingers curled around Gumbo, one of his level five monsters, and moved it forward. "And I'll make sure to attack right away!"

"I'll meet you head on!" Yami smiled and moved Eye Mouth forward. "But I should let you know...this is a _Shadow_ _Game_..."

"I knew this game would be special!" Mokuba cackled. "And _you_ came at me with a _level_ _one_ monster! I'll show _you_ who's the better player!"

The magic of the Shadow Game enchanted the game pieces, and Gumbo's large axe easily cleaved Eye Mouth in half.

Mokuba cheered. "One down, four to go!"

Yami leaned forward, propping her elbows on the table and resting her chin on her hands, dimpling at him with a little giggle.

Mokuba was slightly unnerved by this. "Wh-what at you laughing at, you dumb girl? You're the one who _lost!_"

"I'm teaching you the rules of gaming!" Yami chirped, her red eyes suddenly steeling although her voice remained cheerful. "No matter what the circumstances, always act like you have the upper hand! That's rule number one!"

Mokuba was getting fed up with Yami. He slammed a hand down on the table and reared from his chair. "_Y-You think you can teach me?!_" he roared.

Yami was already waving a finger chidingly. "Stay cool at all times," she pointed out in a little singsong voice. "That's rule number two!"

Mokuba gritted his teeth. "Grrr...."

"I'm going on the offensive," Yami said, moving The Great "Pa" forward a few spaces. Cobrada, one of Mokuba's level four monsters, slithered towards it and attacked. "Pa" struck at the snake with his sword, and both monsters fell.

"I'm left with three monsters," Yami mused, eyeing the board, "and Mokuba's got four..."

Mokuba's confidence rose again. "Moron! Even if I lost one monster, I'm still totally going to beat you!" With that, he moved Dinosaur Wing to attack Flower Man. The dinosaur's flame breath easily roasted the plant monster. The flame flickered in Yami's eyes as she moved Devil Castle away to the left in what appeard to be an evasive maneuver. 

"You think I'll let you get away?!" Mokuba cried, seizing Head Sucker. "I'll follow and eat you right up!"

The crunch was very loud as the huge jaws closed over the castle, splintering it. 

Mokuba leaned over the board and yelled his victory into Yami's face, complete with pointing finger. "_I win! I win!_ You have one monster left, and I've got _four!_ You can't fight them! I _win!!_"

Yami smiled so sweetly at him, laughing softly, girlishly. 

Mokuba had officially had enough. "_What_ is so _funny?!_ Don't tell me that _stupid_, _girly_ laugh is a rule, too!"

Yami leaned back. "It's a laugh of _victory_!" she cheered. "Take a look at the board! At your monsters! A _good_ look!"

"_What?!_" Mokuba shrieked, face tilting down. His eyes widened slowly as he took in the entire game board. "They're...they're..."

Realization dawned on him too late. "They're lined up _diagonally!_"

They were, and Yami touched her final monster with one slender finger. "See him? My last monster? The Torigun?" The small bird seemed to draw itself up proudly. "It's low-level, it can't make sharp turns, and it's _terrible_ at close combat," Yami explained, caressing the bird's feathers with a fingertip, "but it has _one special talent!_"

She traced a finger beside the line of monsters on the board. "Once per game, Torigun can defeat any number of enemies, even level five ones, in a _diagonal super attack!" _She grinned. "And how does it go?..._Whirlwind...Razor...Beak...Slash!_"

Sweat rolled down Mokuba's forehead as he realized what had happened. _Yami sacrificed all her monsters but one—JUST TO DRAW MY FOUR INTO A LINE!!_

"_Go!_" Yami cried, and Torigun, enchanted by Shadow Magic, easily sliced through all Mokuba's remaining monsters.

"Rule number three!" Yami cried. "Remember it well! _Hold your trump card till the end!_"

Mokuba reared from his chair, nearly knocking the board off the wooden crate and onto the floor. "I lose! _Me!!_"

Yami had also gotten to her feet, pointing a ruthless hand in the child's direction. "_Penalty game!!_" she sang.

Mokuba couldn't remember ever feeling so helpless in his life—somehow the pretty girl standing across from him was suddenly the scariest thing he'd ever seen. A shadow fell over him, and before he raised his head he realized, _This is what made my brother go crazy!_

"_A capsule!!_" he shrieked, seeing a large egg-shaped capsule closing over him. "_A capsule over my head!!_"

Before the vision overcame him fully, however, he pointed a small finger at Yami as if he were sealing her fate. "_You think you've won, Yami Motou, but my brother's revenge is well under way! "Death T" is coming, and you won't get away!!_"

Yami arched a brow. "_Death T"?_

The hallucination finally overtook Mokuba—a large, egg-shaped capsule bearing the number one, sealing him inside. 

"Too bad, baby, but you aren't a match for me, not nearly!" Yami sighed amusedly. "Now you think about that while you're trapped in your capsule!" She turned her back, jacket flaring around her as she walked out of the warehouse. 

Mokuba's followers were crowded around him. "Boss?" "Mokuba! What's the matter?" "Hey! Hey, man!"

But their "boss" couldn't hear them over his own screams. "_Big brother! Big brother, help me!_"

Yami turned back only once to smile silkily at the boy. 

"We can play again later...when you've learned the _rules!_"

**

**Author's Notes:**

This chapter's references:

**"Big wusses and lesser wimps":** This line is a reference to another www.homestarrunner.com Strong Bad email, entitled "stunt double". Watch it--I think it's hilarious.

**"What are you gonna shoot me with? Jelly?":** Yami's reference to a gun that shoots jelly is a reference to one of my favorite Christmas movies, the Rankin-Bass "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", where the toy water gun on the Island of Misfit Toys shoots jelly.

I'm liking the next couple of chapters I have lined up--I always enjoy one-shots better than the huge conspiracy chapters, to be honest.


	17. Kick My Ass

**Author's Introduction:**

  


Some Reviewer Responses:

  


To **Yami Sakuno**: The spirit in the Millennium Puzzle is indeed a woman. She has a name and a past of her own, as well, but we won't find out more about that until later.

  


To **GOGO23**: Of course Ryou will be in the story as soon as he shows up in _Shonen Jump, _since that's what I work from. I can't wait either!

  


To **JaguarKitty2006**: I have _no idea_ what is wrong with that doll on the Island of Misfits Toys! We all sat around for hours too, trying to suss the whole thing out! We can't figure it out! By the way, I have the small plush Rudolph, Clarice, and Moonracer. When I stare at them my eyes get misty with nostalgia. ^smiles.^

  


To **Meti**: I won't tell you yet who Yami plays in the future "Naruto" vignettes (Yami and Joey seem to like playing "musical scripts"), but I'm curious to know why not Sasuke? ^smiles, intrigued^.

  


To **Falcona Skywolf**: I'm wildly amused by the idea of Johji flirting with Yami-Girl, because I don't think she'd be amused by it. ^grins.^ As for how they will get the laser gun without Anzu as host, I haven't figured that part out yet. But fear not, the hamster in my head is running. If it figures something out for me, I'll give it one of those little food pellets.

  


And now a chapter devoted to the one thing that makes Tuesday and Wednesday nights worthwhile: video games.

  


**

  


**Chapter Fifteen, Twenty-Fifth Duel: Kick My Ass**

  


******

  


_I'm so sorry you had to kick my ass_

_You said I ruined your life_

_I didn't mean to do that_

_I'm so sorry_

_I regret everything_

_But what can I do_

_To make you take back that swing?_

_I'm so sorry_

_I scuffle and feud_

_But things are much better now_

_I guess thanks to you_

  


(Kick My Ass)

(Garbage)

  


**

  


Joey Wheeler spit on his hands and marched through the humming glass doors, his black leather jacket flaring behind him. "Today is the day, today-is-the-_day_, baby!" he announced, his Air Muscles silent on the rubber doormat. 

  


"Is it bacon day?" Yami Motou asked happily, pulling on the cord of her earphones as she followed Joey under the bright neon sign, round yellow bulbs outlining the red scrolling sign of the Broadway City arcade, her music replaced by the beeping and ringing of too many video games in too small a space.

  


"No, the day I'm gonna break this dude's record!" Joey knocked a fist against a "Cruisin' USA" racing game. He pointed a finger at the list of high scorers. "See? The top ranked guys get to record their names."

  


Yami leaned into the machine to read the names. The obligatory "AAA" was in third place, succeeded by "L*J". First place belonged to "KAI".

  


"K...A...I," Yami read. " 'KAI'? You're going to beat his driving record?"

  


Joey shook his golden head, bangs flying over his eyes. "It's not just this game. Even the puzzle games and the fighting games...this 'KAI' has the high score on almost all the games in the arcade."

  


It was true. Yami turned and waited for the "Marvel vs. Capcom 2" sample fight to end. Jill Valentine blasted MegaMan across the screen with a bazooka, and the highscore list scrolled up the screen. Sure enough, "KAI" was in first place, initials typed next to the tiny picture of M. Bison. In fact, "KAI" was first place on "Capcom vs. SNK", "House of the Dead", "Dragon Ball", and "Tetris", too. 

  


"You're right!" Yami realized, walking from game to game. "He's first place on every game!...Except this one."

  


Yami had stopped in front of "Dance Dance Revolution Extreme Mix". She giggled. "Maybe 'KAI' has two left feet!" Taking Joey's hands, she tried to dance with him to "I Believe In Miracles". "But he's really good at all the _other_ games in this arcade."

  


"Are you kidding?" Joey stabbed a nearby screen with a finger, taking his hands from Yami's. "These games are connected online to arcades all across the country! That means this "KAI" dude is the number one gamer in _Japan_!"

  


Yami tilted her chocolate-vanilla head to one side and her crimson eyes went dreamy. "I wonder what he looks like? Maybe we've crossed paths and don't even know it."

  


Joey had already moved on with a wave of his hand. "Yeah, yeah, Yami, but get this! If I beat this guy, then _I'll_ be the best in Japan!" He threw a fist into the air and yelled, "_Awright! Today I'm gonna beat 'KAI'!!_"

  


Yami opened her mouth to cry "Yay!" but the sound that was heard was snide laughter.

  


"Shyeah, right! Not in a million years!"

  


Both teens whirled to see two small children watching them. One had a knapsack slung over his shoulder and long dark bangs; the other was wearing a ski hat and kept wiping a runny nose with the long sleeves of his Volcom shirt.

  


"What was that, ya little brats?" Joey asked through gritted teeth, raising a fist.

  


"There's no way you can break Kaiba's record!" the kid with the knapsack said.

  


Yami twitched involuntarily, her face suddenly paling to reveal patches of blue under her eyes. Joey would later claim it was his imagination, but he thought her hair suddenly stood up in certain places too, like static electricity. "K-Kaiba?"

  


The kid with the runny nose sniffled. "Yeah! Kaiba the game master! He's like a legend!"

  


Yami's ruby eyes had gone distant; she was remembering Seto Kaiba, his arrogant smile, the way his icy eyes slid over the Duel Monsters cards fanned in his hand. How absolutely assured he had been of his victory, purring at her over the card table in the dark. _Give up, Yami. Give in. There's no way you can win_.

  


But she had won. She had beaten the legend. So why did she feel shivery all of a sudden?

  


"There are two brothers," the kid with the knapsack said. "The older one's the game whiz!"

  


Yami glanced down to the side, remembering the other Kaiba brother—the diminutive but no less scary Mokuba Kaiba, his violet eyes hectically bright under his shock of black hair. He hadn't believed she had beaten Seto Kaiba either—until she had trounced him as well.

  


The kid with the knapsack was still talking. "They say Kaiba got bored with normal games..."

  


Yami nodded, rolling her lower lip under and out like she was smoothing lipstick, although she wore no makeup. "That's no surprise. If there's no challenge, how much fun can you possibly have?"

  


The kid's long bangs flopped over his eyes as he leaned in conspiratorially. "That's not all! There's this rumor that Kaiba's working on this super secret project—that he's building the _ultimate_ game!"

  


Yami felt that shivery feeling return to her stomach, turning it to water. The kid's face looked eerie, lit with a strange light unlike the glare from the video-game screens. 

  


_The ultimate game...?_

  


Mokuba Kaiba's angry voice rang through her head. _Death-T is coming, and you won't escape!_

  


But the snide laughter returned, and the kid became just a snot-nosed little brat again. "Later, losers! Have fun challenging his record—_forever!_"

  


Joey snarled at the retreating kids, and Yami held a slim arm across his chest to hold him back. "Calm down, Joey."

  


Joey strained against the arm, but only barked at the kids. "Rrrrrruff! Rrr....ruff!"

  


Yami giggled. "Okay, Killer. Let's go play a game or two."

  


Five minutes later, a pixillated girl with a blonde ponytail and a bikini was running Joey's Corvette off the road. "Grrrrr! I suck at this game!" He slid out of the chair and turned to see Yami sitting across from him on a stool in front of a bank of fighting games. He could read the banner that stretched across the lower half of her black sweatshirt, bearing the name of her favorite band, From Autumn to Ashes. He chuckled at the two birds holding up either end of the banner—the blue one was normal-looking, but the red one had x's for eyes.

  


"Haven't seen you in a while," a guy in a Taking Back Sunday hoodie remarked to Yami. "Where've you been?"

  


"Dead," Yami answered nonchalantly, headphones once again clipped over her ears, a stick of pocky clamped between her heartshaped lips.

  


"Whatcha doin'?" Joey sat down on the stool on Yami's other side. "Hey, Kudoberi Jam! Now _there's_ a real woman! Grrrowf!"

  


"Knock it off, Joey." Yami grinned. "Everyone knows I do best with Jam. Watch!"

  


Yami used the buxom fighting girl to cheerfully mop the floor with Ky Kiske. "Please...look at me..." the ninja girl begged from the screen.

  


"Nice job," Joey said appreciatively, chomping some of the leftover pocky. "Maybe you'll get your name up on the list!"

  


"Here comes a _new challenger_!" the screen blared, flashing suddenly next to Yami.

  


"Oh, cool, someone wants to fight against you!" Joey said. 

  


"That's what I like best about these sit-down fighting games," Yami agreed. "You never know who you're fighting against."

  


"Who's he playing as?" Joey watched Jam face-off against a kung-fu master. "It looks like Bruce Lee."

  


Yami chuckled. "That's who he's based on—he's called 'The Dragon', Bruce Ryu, but he's based on Bruce Lee. I'm a fan." 

  


"I didn't know you liked Bruce Lee," Joey commented.

  


"Sure! _The Chinese Connection, Way of the Dragon_...and the fact that he always insisted on doing his own stunts, even though he usually got hurt!" Yami grinned and turned back towards the screen. "And he's about to get hurt even worse right now! Kick his ass, Jam!" she cheered on her own character.

  


Once again, Yami kicked the challenger's ass up and down the screen. "Take that! And that!"

  


"Nice job!" Joey said appreciatively.

  


"Here comes a _new challenger!_" the game repeated, and Yami and Joey both turned back towards the screen.

  


Yami threw her hair back and rubbed her small palms together. "Well, if he wants more, I'm always up for extra innings!"

  


"Behave over there," Joey chuckled.

  


"Watch this, watch!" Yami said, tapping the screen rapidly with one hand while she controlled Jam with the other. "You've got to watch out for this when you're playing against Bruce Ryu. You can't get too close or he'll nail you with his close-quarters attack—the 'one inch punch'!" 

  


_"Hai yaaaaaahhhhhh!_" the computerized ninja roared, while Yami's ninja girl easily flipped out of the way, then slammed a high kick to her opponent's forehead. "Oh yeah! Uh huh!" Yami let go of the controls to cabbage-patch in victory. "Uh huh! Uh huh! Mmhm, mmhm mmhm!"

  


"Here comes a _new challenger_!" the game repeated.

  


Yami blinked, thick lashes fanning over her ruby eyes. She stopped her cabbage-patch to raise an eyebrow incredulously at the screen. "Is it the same guy?"

  


"He must really like you, Yami," Joey teased. 

  


"He likes Jam's breasts, I think," Yami giggled. "I guess I'll keep kicking his ass."

  


"Well, I have no doubt you'll mop the floor with him," Joey agreed, uncurling his tall body from his chair. "Want me to bring you a drink? It's on me."

  


Yami's smile was bright. "That's so nice of you! I'd love a soda!"

  


"Sure thing, pal." Joey ruffled Yami's hair teasingly and fished in his pocket for some money. "Don't go anywhere. I'll be right back."

  


Literally less than two seconds after Joey turned away, he heard Yami crow, "I win again!" Lowering his blond head a little, Joey shook it and chuckled.

  


Seven minutes and four wins later, Yami was once again cabbage-patching to celebrate her opponent's finally giving up for good. She rose from her chair to turn the cabbage-patch into a full-floor dance, and so she didn't notice her opponent _hadn't_ quite given up yet...

  


**

  


On the other side of the bank of sit-down video games, Yami's opponent slammed a fist down onto the console. Growling, he raked a hand through his dark hair and searched for the person who was humiliating him. Stalking around the bank of video games, he was surprised to see a small girl in a black hooded sweatshirt jumping up from her chair. She started up a victory dance, dark hair fanning around her face, body swaying and then stumbling in surprise, mid-dance, as she saw him standing with an angry glare aimed at her.

  


"—oh!"

  


"A _little girl_," he snarled. "It figures!"

  


She flicked vanilla bangs out of her eyes, drawing herself up higher. "_What_ figures?"

  


"You could never beat me in a real fight, girly girl!" her opponent challenged, pointing a bony finger into her face. "So enjoy your last dance!"

  


"You want to _bet_?!" she shrieked, her anger sudden and fierce, her small fists curled up in front of her chest. "Count of three, tough guy!"

  


But Yami's mistake was counting at all. Her opponent didn't bother to wait till even "one" before delivering a hard slap to the side of her head, sending her into the bank of games, hard.

  


"H...hey!" she choked, sliding down to the floor. Spitting a bit of dark blood from the corner of her mouth, she hissed, "...Not...fair! You didn't even...let me count!"

  


"Thought I wouldn't hit a girl, did you?" Her opponent smirked, reaching down to the Millennium Puzzle shining at the end of its cord. "Let me _help _the lady_ up_!"

  


With a sudden, rough yank, he had pulled Yami to her feet by the Puzzle's cord, wrapping it tightly around her slim throat until the cord bit into her skin. Yami's black boots scrabbled for purchase on the tiled floor, her ruby eyes widening with every minute that her air lessened.

  


"Who's laughing now, girly?!" her opponent demanded, giving Yami a shake. "Giggle for me now, bitch!"

  


Yami scratched weakly at the hands keeping the Puzzle's cord tight around her neck, but her opponent held on...held on...held on...

  


Yami's eyes closed—

  


—and the cord snapped.

  


Yami tumbled to the floor, gasping sorely for air, her cheek pressed against the cold tiles and her eyes sliding shut, hands curling and uncurling as if she were trying desperately to grab hold of something. Her chest heaved and her lashes fluttered, one hand slowly rising as if reaching for heaven, and then falling limply back to her side.

  


Meanwhile, her opponent held his prize—the Millennium Puzzle—at eye level. "I think I'll keep this to remember you by, sweetheart," he quipped to the semi-conscious Yami before turning and walking out of the arcade.

  


**

  


Joey was tossing his canned coffee from hand to hand as he walked back towards where he had left Yami. "Woo...hot...hot..._hot_!" he puffed, trying not to touch the hot can too long. 

  


Looking up from the can, he saw the same two small boys who had teased him earlier kneeling on the floor by the sit-down fighting games. The kid with the ski hat and the Volcom shirt dragged a sleeve nervously over his nose, while the other kid's dark eyes went wide with shock over whatever they were staring at. 

  


Joey arched a golden brow.

  


"Do you think she's dead?" the kid with the knapsack whispered. "She's bleeding."

  


Joey dropped the coffee can as he saw what they were staring at. Yami was lying on the floor against the bank of games, a thick line of blood dripping down her cheek. Her earring had sliced into her skin when she'd been hit. Her eyes were closed and she was trying to catch her breath, chest heaving beneath her hooded sweatshirt. Joey could read the lyric under the crown that was just over her heart. "To Die For". 

  


"Are you okay?" The kid in the ski hat poked Yami's cheek gently. "Hey, girl? Are you okay?"

  


"Give her some air!" Joey slid on his knees the last five feet and the two kids jumped in surprise, giving him room. Joey drew Yami into his arms, giving her a gentle shake. "Yami. Yami! Come on, babe. Talk to me. It's me, it's Joey."

  


No answer from Yami, save a little sound and a barely perceptable toss of the head.

  


"No, stay with me, Yami, stay," Joey begged, shifting her in his arms. "Come on, Yami!"

  


"I can't breathe." Yami tried to sit up.

  


Joey heaved a sigh of relief. "Yeah you can, babe, you're breathing to talk." He rubbed her back. "Can you stand on your own?"

  


Yami drew a shaky breath. "I don't know."

  


Joey nodded. "If I help you, can you stand?"

  


Yami shook her head, changing her mind. "No. I can stand by myself." 

  


And she did. She used the bank of games for support, but she stood without Joey's help and tossed her bangs out of her eyes. For the first time, Joey noticed the angry red marks on her throat. Reaching to cradle her face, he stroked his thumbs down her throat and gently examined the marks. He was torn between pulling her close in a hug and beating the hell out of the next person who looked at either of them. She was so sweet, so small. How could anyone want to hurt her?

  


"Joey," she said softly. "I'm all right. See? I can stand on my own."

  


Joey stroked his thumb down her throat once more, over the fierce red marks, his eyes unreadable.

  


Suddenly he grinned at her. "You better be able to stand on your own—cause I got some serious ass to kick!"

  


Turning from Yami, he knelt in front of the two kids who were still watching with goggle eyes. "Got a job f'r each of ya, if you're up for it," he said. Pointing at the kid with the knapsack, he said, "I need you to get my friend a napkin. As for you—" He pointed at the kid with the ski hat. "Did you see the guy who did this!"

  


A quick nod. "I saw which way he went!"

  


**

  


Yami's opponent was feeling pretty good about himself. He was examining the pendant he'd taken from her. _I think I kind of like this pendant—it almost looks like real gold_...

  


He couldn't possibly have known it was real gold, old gold, older than he could have imagined.

  


He decided to cut through an alley near the arcade in order to get home faster, even though the mouth of the alley yawned at him like the mouth of a dark cave. _I'm the toughest guy in the world,_ he thought with a smirk. _I can handle one dark alley_.

  


Perhaps if he could have seen the dragon curled in that cavelne dark, he might have gone the long way home.

  


**

  


"Hey asshole—you may be pretty good at beating up girls, but how do you think you'll do against _me?_" Joey yelled from the end of an alley, spotting the guy who had matched the description given him by the boys at the arcade coming towards him.

  


With a single turn of the head, Yami's opponent became Joey's opponent.

  


Joey's grin was not pleasant. He was thinking of Yami's ear crimson with blood, dripping heavily into her collar. "I think I'm gonna cut yer ear off," he decided aloud. "You know, before I kill you."

  


Joey's opponent snickered. "You got balls of steel to challenge _me_ to a street fight!"

  


"Oh, this ain't gonna be a fight," Joey said, his grammar getting worse and his accent getting deeper as he got angrier. "This'll be a _slaughter_. I'm gonna make you _so_ sorry, and the last thing you see before your eyes shut will be me taking back that pendant!"

  


His opponent guffawed. "Get this, tough guy! I've never lost a fight!"

  


"Nobody hits her," Joey growled, his voice at its lowest.

  


For some reason, the angrier Joey got, the calmer his opponent became. He slouched a little, shoved his hands in his pockets, and chuckled. "I think you need a lesson in two things. First thing is history!"

  


Joey balled his hands into fists and growled. "Goddamnit! Why doesn't anyone just get straight to the fight anymore!"

  


His opponent laughed again. "I like that kind of thinking!"

  


"Then put up your dukes!" Joey hollered, cocking his fists.

  


"Not so fast!" his opponent said, placing one hand in front of him as if to say "stop". "I may not look like it, but I'm a big fan of Bruce Lee."

  


"Yeah, I noticed that when Yami was kicking your digital ass at the arcade!" Joey interjected with a sneer.

  


His opponent flinched, his pride wounded, but continued with his train of thought. "Bruce Lee wasn't just an action star—he was a _real_ fighter! In the Ed Porter International Karate Tournament at Long Beach he showed the entire world how strong he was by using his 'one inch punch'! The records show that with just one inch, and no handicap, he blew his opponent away!"

  


"What's your frickin' _point_?!" Joey yelled.

  


"Nice choice of words." His opponent smirked. "There's your _second_ lesson—a lesson in _fear_! I'm going to teach you the terror of one inch!"

  


"I think you've played one too many fighting games!" Joey shook his head darkly.

  


"Well, then you won't mind if we play one more." His opponent's hands disappeared into his pockets, and suddenly he had a knife dancing from one hand to the other and back again. It took Joey's eyes a few seconds to register that there were indeed two knives.

  


"We're gonna fight with these knives clenched in our teeth!" To demonstrate, he slipped one of the knives between his own teeth. He chuckled against the blade, knowing Joey could never see that his knife was a trick knife—its blade slipped into its hilt.

  


"Take that outta your mouth," Joey sighed. "I don't want to have to hold _back_ on punching you in the _face_."

  


His opponent spat out the knife with a laugh and cocked his large fists. "So you see the danger! When I punch _you_ in the face, that knife will go straight into your _throat_! _One inch _is enough to kill you!"

  


Just like that, the fight began, with Joey dodging his opponent's fists neatly. Every But the narrow alley made it difficult to dodge to either side, and he couldn't avoid the attacks forever. But he couldn't forget Yami's bloody face, or his promise to protect her.

  


_Promise_...

  


He snickered, the sound vibrating against the knife in his mouth, and shoved his hands into his pockets.

  


"Are you making fun of me?" his opponent panted. "Take your hands out of your pockets!"

  


"Can't!" Joey laughed. "I have my promises to my friend in both these pockets, and _you_ don't get to see 'em until it's over!"

  


"Your torso is wide open!" His opponent swung with a wild punch, arm curving as he threw his entire weight into the strike. "I'm gonna _kill_ you!"

  


The fist drove closer and closer to Joey, and then it was time. "_All right! These are my promises_!"

  


The fist never landed. Joey's left pocket exploded in a violent spray of carbonated soda, splashing his opponent's face and eyes. "I promised Yami I'd bring her a soda!"

  


His opponent howled, large hands fleeing to cover his eyes, rubbing the stinging soda away. "My eyes! Fuck!" he sputtered, scrubbing at his face fiercely.

  


Joey drew his curled fist from his right pocket and smirked. "And I promised _you _I'd clobber you!" 

  


His opponent opened bleary eyes just in time to be too late.

  


Joey didn't need Bruce Lee's one-inch punch to knock the guy flat. He threw his whole body into a roundhouse punch to the face, making sure it was the same side Yami had been bleeding from. "And I always keep my promises!"

  


It was deeply satisfying to the blond to spit the knife at his now-unconscious opponent's feet. "Never in a million years, you jerk!" he said, kneeling to retrieve his prize—the Millennium Puzzle. It was easy to imagine Yami's smile; he couldn't wait to see it. Turning, he headed back towards the arcade, a smile of his own slowly forming on his face.

  


_Got your Puzzle back, Yami. Now all I've gotta do is buy another soda!_

  


**

  


Usually, I have a point in the author's notes that explains any personal references in the chapter. This chapter could possibly hold the record for the most personal references in any chapter to date!

  


And now for a little section that I like to call **The Broadway City Appendix:**

  


**The Broadway City Arcade itself:** The Broadway City arcade is in Times Square and I love it there. Me and my friends Shazzer and Izzy love to go there and play DDR and those quarter-pitching games whenever we have some free time, which isn't often, unfortunately.

  


**Bacon Day**: My friends and I used to go to a dance club called Zachary's. We can't go there anymore because they increased the age to get in to thirty years old! It's really too bad because we used to have some great times there. One of my favorite things about it was that if you stayed long enough, they served breakfast. I used to take as much bacon as I could carry out of that place. Every day was Bacon Day! 

  


**Cruisin' USA**: My friends and I sometimes play "Cruisin' USA" at the icky Whitestone Lanes, which is where we bowl when we can't go to Strike. It's rather a stupid game, now that I think about it, but the only other game to play there is that one where you shoot the deer.

  


**The video games at the arcade**: I really miss the **Dragon Ball** game at the Broadway City arcade. I sucked at it, but I still loved it anyway. I also suck at **House of the Dead**but I like anything with shooting in it. My favorite fighting game is **Guilty Gear X**, but every time we go to Broadway City my two friends Shazzer and Izzy watch me get my ass kicked at **Marvel vs. Capcom 2 **and **Capcom vs. SNK**. Sometimes they "help", which means we all jam on all the buttons and usually means I get killed even faster.

  


**M. Bison**: For some reason I think Kaiba would be an M. Bison type. Well, I don't know, _I_ laughed when I thought about it.

  


**Dance Dance Revolution**: My favorite arcade game _ever_ is Dance Dance Revolution! And there's a reason it's the only game in the arcade that Kaiba isn't first place at—but more on that in a later chapter.

  


**Kudoberi Jam**: Obviously Bruce Ryu is not a character in "Guilty Gear X", but I love the game and decided to have Yami play as my favorite character, Kudoberi Jam. I wrote a paper that was partially based on her response to Ky Kiske when she wins ("Please look at me") and received an A from my professor.

  


**L*J**: These initials are on one of the video games Joey and Yami play at the arcade. Guess whose initials those are? ^smiles and points to self.^

  


**"Where've you been?" "Dead": **This conversation between Yami and a guy in a Taking Back Sunday hoodie is a direct homage to Yu Yu Hakusho, right down to the pocky. Yusuke gets twenty-four hours one month to spend alive before he regains his living status, and chooses to spend it playing Plinko at the arcade. When a guy asks him where he's been, "Dead" is how he responds. 

  


**The Taking Back Sunday hoodie**: The TBS hoodieis one that belongs to a very good friend of mine (who I may or may not have a crush on)—he loaned it to me on a camping trip that remains one of the best weekends of my life. ^sighs.^

  


**The From Autumn To Ashes hoodie: **Yami's From Autumn To Ashes hoodie****is my beloved hoodie. I practically live in it. The lyric over the heart, "To Die For", is from one of my favorite From Autumn To Ashes songs, "The Second Wrong Makes You Feel Right", which can be found on the album "The Fiction We Live".

  


**The cabbage-patch**: Yami dancing the cabbage-patch****is a double homage:

**1**) On New Year's, some friend/crush who may or may not own that abovementioned Taking Back Sunday hoodie demonstrated to me that no matter how herby it looks, you can indeed cabbage-patch to any song. I was busy at the time, however, trying to skank to "Runaround Sue". Which is also possible. 

**2**) In Kevin Smith's "Chasing Amy", Ben Affleck's character, Holden McNeil, first tries to flirt with Alyssa Jones by dancing into her at a bar and then claiming, "You got in the way of my cabbage-patch!"

  


**Next chapter**: The return of Mokuba Kaiba, and what one has to go through to get a decent pancake breakfast.

  


  



	18. Wheel Of Fortune

**Author's Introduction:**

  


Apparently, one spectacular kicking of Mokuba's ass wasn't enough, because he's back for another round. Luckily, it involves one of my—and Yami's—favorite things: **food!**

  


_Bon appetit._ I don't know if I spelled that right since I failed my French final. ^smiles.^

  


**

  


**Chapter Sixteen, Twenty-Sixth Duel: Wheel of Fortune**

  


_Whatcha gonna tell your dad, it's like a wheel of fortune_

_Whatcha gonna tell your dad if this wheel lets you down?_

_My love is my engine, and you might be fuel_

_Stop acting cool, just bet you might win_

_I'm not too cruel_

_I'm in love with another fool_

  


(Wheel of Fortune)

(Ace of Base)

  


**

  


"Ow, ow, _ow_." Yami scrubbed the side of her face with the sleeve of her From Autumn to Ashes sweatshirt pulled over one hand. She had wet a napkin in the arcade's bathroom and washed the blood off with hand soap, but the cut still looked nasty. 

  


"That'll teach ya to wear barbells in your ears." Joey ruffled Yami's hair affectionately. She reached up to touch the barbells and stuck out her tongue at him.

  


"No, really, how are you feeling?" Joey asked, with a brief return to severity. It had only been minutes since she had been hit at the arcade.

  


She smiled, winking one red eye at him. "I feel fine. I'm a lot better since you got my Puzzle back, Joey."

  


_Knew you would be_. "No problem, kiddo." Joey stroked a large hand down Yami's short hair. "Where do you wanna go now?"

  


A black limo purred alongside the curb beside them, gleaming in the late-afternoon sunlight. It slowed until it was driving at the same speed Yami and Joey were walking. Yami stopped suddenly. "What do you suppose—?"

  


The limo parked, and a long black-trousered leg slipped out of the car, boot clicking on the sidewalk. Yami and Joey tensed, coming face to face with—

  


"A bellhop?" Yami asked incredulously, letting go of Joey's arm. 

  


"To be completely accurate, madam, I'm a chauffeur," the tall, spindly man answered, brushing imaginary dust off of his red uniform and black trousers, slim fingers flickering over shiny gold buttons. A small hat sat atop his short dark hair.

  


"What's a chauffeur?" Joey asked, rubbing one hand across the back of his blond head.

  


"A driver in a hat," Yami explained, turning to him and forgetting the limo entirely until the bellh—ah, chauffeur—cleared his throat loudly.

  


Yami and Joey turned back towards him.

  


"Miss Yami and her friend, I presume?" he said with a little bow, as though it had been rehearsed. 

  


"It's Ms.," Yami corrected politely. 

  


The chauffeur rolled his dark eyes slightly, but repeated, "Ms. Yami and her friend, I presume? Master Seto cordially requests your presence at his house!"

  


Yami's hair stuck up again in that static-electricity kind of way, and there were blue patches beneath her eyes once more. "S-Seto K-Kaiba? Joey, I don't think this is such a good—"

  


"Wow, a _limo_!" Joey yelled, already in the back seat. "Come on, Yami, they've got Jolt Cola back here!"

  


**

  


Joey stretched both his arms behind his head and sighed a lap-of-luxury kind of sigh. Yami, by contrast, chugged nervously at her Jolt and sat bolt upright on the white leather seats. She glanced out the tinted windows and wondered what it was like to always be like this, able to see everything around you but invisible just the same.

  


"I wonder why Kaiba's inviting us to his house?" Joey asked, echoing Yami's thoughts aloud.

  


"At least we'll be able to see if he's all right," Yami answered, voicing a fear she hadn't realized she had had until now. "He hasn't been in school recently. I was beginning to..." 

  


_...worry..._

  


"I was beginning to wonder," she finished smoothly, and sipped her Jolt.

  


"Yes," the chaffeur said from beyond the lowered partition, reminding Yami and Joey of his existence. "Master Seto has been busy. He has been working on an important project. He _is_ the president of KaibaCorp, after all."

  


"I can't believe he does all that and he's still in high school!" Joey punched the seat, earning him a glare from the chauffeur in the rear view mirror.

  


"I had no idea KaibaCorp was such a big deal," Yami said.

  


Joey turned to stare at his best friend, mouth agape. "Come _on_, Yami. It's only one of the top companies in the world in the toy and game business."

  


Yami's eyes were blank; she was remembering the high-score lists on the games in the arcade scrolling past her eyes, and the name that was atop every list. _KAI_. "No wonder Kaiba's so proud of being a great gamer...he'd _have_ to be, to be president!"

  


Without warning, a shock of black hair peeked around the passenger seat and over the partition. "And _I'm_ the vice president!"

  


"Eeh!" Yami swallowed her heart, then recognized the speaker and frowned. "Oh, it's just _you_."

  


"It's been a while, Yami!" Mokuba Kaiba chuckled, ignoring the insult, his violet eyes hectically brilliant. "I had _fun_ the other day, didn't you?"

  


Yami smirked. "Sure did, hon. I especially liked the part where I beat you at your own game."

  


Once again, Mokuba seemed unaffected by Yami's words. Instead, he looked up at the rearview mirror and speared her with those glassy violet eyes. "You're lucky, Yami! You're going to get the V.I.P. treatment this time! The big project my brother was working on is finished, and the opening ceremonies are tomorrow!"

  


"Opening ceremonies?" Joey asked.

  


Mokuba's eyes became round and guileless, pretending to be innocent. "My brother's so thoughtful and considerate—he wanted his two friends to be the first to enjoy it. He's giving you a special invitation—and that includes the pre-opening celebration tonight!" Mokuba turned to face forward, his long hair spilling over the back of the seat.

  


"What is this project, Mokuba?" Yami asked calmly, hoping to wring some information out of the boy. 

  


Mokuba turned again, his violet eyes gleeful. He knew what she was up to. "It's a secret—a surprise! You'll just have to wait to find out!" He giggled wildly, then turned again, hair flicking like black flame. 

  


Yami huddled down into the leather seat. _This kid doesn't like me. I've got a bad feeling about this..._

  


Joey sipped his Jolt, happily unaware of the bad vibes. Meanwhile, Mokuba tried his hardest not to laugh maniacally with glee in the front of the car.

  


_This is it, Yami Motou! This project is our revenge on you! This is **Death-T!!**_

  


**

  


Yami spent the first fifteen minutes in front of the Kaiba mansion simply gazing at its splendor. Her eyes were round as saucers and her gaze swept slowly up, then down, then up again. 

  


"Do you like it?" Mokuba asked, arching an eyebrow at her odd behavior. He leapt out of the limousine and threw his long hair over his shoulder in an almost girlish gesture. Now that he was standing upright, Joey could see that he was wearing jeans, sneakers, and a long-sleeved shirt with the number "5" on it. It looked familiar, like the numbers on those capsules Yami had once tried to teach him to play chess with.

  


_Kid must like games as much as his big bro,_ Joey thought. 

  


"It's the most magnificent place I've ever seen," Yami answered, the mansion looking like a sprawling paradise compared to her own tiny room above the game shop. "I had no idea this is what it looks like in the day time!"

  


Both Mokuba and Joey started uncontrollably, turning to stare at her.

  


Yami jumped, realizing her mistake. She had forgotten that no one else knew about that night she had played cards in the poolhouse with Seto Kaiba...

  


She blushed scarlet and laughed nervously. "A ha ha! Shall we go inside and meet Kaiba now?"

  


Both Mokuba and Joey gave her a funny look, but said nothing more on the matter. Mokuba's face returned to its false cheer. "Let's go in and you guys can make yourselves at home!"

  


The massive doors swung open, and Yami entered the Kaiba mansion for the first time.

  


**

  


"_Now_ what is she doing?" Mokuba demanded, crossing his arms and leaning his weight on one leg in the doorway. 

  


Joey looked embarrassed. He wasn't sure if this was what Mokuba had meant by "making themselves at home". "Ah, Yami...I don't know if that's polite, you know?"

  


Yami was busy taking off her ankle boots. She wiggled her toes in her sheer black stockings, then walked happily across the plush burgundy rug. "Soft," she pronounced happily. "You should try it!"

  


Joey shook his head and turned to Mokuba, waiting for the kid to blow his top, but the boy was kneeling, removing his sneakers. "You know, I've never done this before!" he said cheerfully to Yami, joining her as she walked barefoot down the entryway. 

  


On the other side of the room was a large double staircase, carpeted with the same burgundy rug. In front of the staircase stood a line of men and women dressed exactly as the chauffeur had been, all except for one little man in a tuxedo. The lights on the chandelier overhead gleamed off his bald head, and Yami didn't like the glasses that hid his eyes. Without his eyes to complete his expression, his smile looked eerie and unfinished, more of a leer. 

  


Yami felt a little uncomfortable in front of so many well-dressed people. She was suddenly painfully aware of her plaid skirt, her torn nylons, her shoeless feet. Her black tank top was hidden beneath her From Autumn To Ashes sweatshirt, but the sweatshirt itself looked ragged from being washed so many times, because she wore it as much as possible. Feeling like an orphan of the storm, she shrank a little behind Joey, whose leather jacket at least looked classy over his white t-shirt and jeans.

  


"Welcome," the little man said, that leer never wavering on his wrinkled face. "We have been waiting for you!"

  


Mokuba chuckled. "These are our servants."

  


The little old man clasped his knotty hands together. "You are Master Seto's school friend, Ms. Yami, are you not? Master Seto has ordered us to make your stay as pleasant as possible."

  


"This is a lovely house," Yami began, but Mokuba interrupted. "Hey, where's my brother?"

  


The little man bowed slightly. "Yes...Master Seto retired to his rooms a while ago..."

  


Mokuba allowed his surprise to show plainly on his face. Yami imagined she could see a little exclamation point dancing above his head. "What's his _problem!?_" Mokuba said, his voice thinning. "Why isn't he here for the pre-opening celebration?"

  


The old man smiled. "Master Mokuba, Master Seto has been working nonstop these last few days," he purred, trying to appease the younger Kaiba. "I believe it would be best not to disturb his sleep."

  


Mokuba pouted and kicked a foot absently. "Sorry about this, Yami," he said, turning back towards her. "Looks like my big brother won't be able to see you for a while." He brightened suddenly. 'I guess that means tonight you're _my_ guests! I'll take good care of you!"

  


Yami smiled down at his exuberance. "That's nice of you."

  


The old butler leaned down towards the boy. "Master Mokuba, shall we prepare a meal...?"

  


Yami felt hunger nibble at her belly, and couldn't stop her eyes from brightening. Joey voiced what she was thinking. "Yeah! That sounds good! I'm starving!"

  


"I _am_ sort of hungry," Yami admitted, placing a hand guiltily over her stomach.

  


Mokuba's violet eyes sparkled. "Why didn't you just say something?" He grinned. "I'll treat you to the best food in the world!"

  


Yami smiled. "Ring Dings?"

  


Mokuba turned to the butler once more, and the innocent little boy was gone. He was a rich, spoiled vice president. "_You! Prepare the special course!_" he bellowed as loudly as he could in his small voice, pointing a commanding finger at the butler.

  


Yami jumped at the harsh tone in the kid's voice, amazed by how rude he was, even to someone he called "servant". But the little man smiled and bowed.

  


"Yes sir! We will serve it at once!"

  


Mokuba grinned and turned to Yami, who was dancing slightly in happiness. 

  


_No one beats Mokuba Kaiba at Capsule Monster Chess...or **anything else!** It's **payback time**, Yami-girl!_

  


**

  


Yami licked her lips prettily as she looked over the table they were led to. "Is that a chocolate parfait?"

  


They were seated around a large turntable that was divided into six slice-shaped sections. Yami's eyes were stuck on the chocolate parfait, but there were also pancakes, a hamburger, a personal pizza, spaghetti, and a cardboard box that reminded Yami of the time she had made a purse out of a Happy Meal container.

  


Joey's nose wrinkled slightly. _I was looking forward to some fantastic cooking, but this is a sundae, pancakes...is that a Happy Meal? This is exactly what a spoiled kid would think of—_

  


"Woo!" Yami interrupted Joey's thoughts happily. "Is there dibs on those pancakes?"

  


Joey arched a brow at his friend. She was not helping his case. 

  


Mokuba grinned wickedly. "I'd love to say the pancakes are all yours, Yami," he purred, "But wouldn't you rather _earn_ them?"

  


Yami pursed her lips, looking like she would rather eat the pancakes right away. "Earn them?"

  


Mokuba's violet eyes were alight with something maniacal and...evil. "If I just let you eat the pancakes right away, that wouldn't be interesting! What do you think about playing a little _game_?"

  


"Game?" Yami couldn't help looking curious, smiling over the turntable at the younger boy. 

  


Mokuba touched a small finger to the turntable, spinning it slowly, absently. "This is a turntable, like they use in Chinese restaurants. The game I made up is this—we three each take turns spinning the table, and then we eat the food that's in front of us!"

  


Joey's eyes narrowed. "What is it, poisoned?"

  


Mokuba laughed loudly, almost nervously, his eyes crinkling at the sides. "I would never do that to a _guest_! What kind of host would I be then!"

  


Yami raised her eyebrows so high that they were hidden in her vanilla bangs.

  


"Actually," Mokuba continued with a smile, "there's a wonderful treasure hidden in these dishes! The person who finds it wins the _game_!"

  


"What could be a better treasure than food?" Yami wondered aloud, touching her lips with he index finger.

  


"All right! Let's do this!" Joey decided cheerfully. "I'll teach you guys how to win _this_ kind of game!"

  


Mokuba smiled. "Then you start, Joey!" He indicated the wheel with an almost lazy wave of his hand. 

  


"Baby needs a new pair of shoes!" Joey joked as he gave the wheel a mighty spin, turning the food on the plates into a colorful blur. Yami's head moved from side to side as she tried to follow the chocolate parfait. The wheel slowed, and pizza, pancakes, parfait all passed Joey by until the section containing the Happy Meal stopped in front of him.

  


"Grrrrr..." Joey's ears seemed to flatten in the manner of an angry dog as he looked over the Happy Meal.

  


Yami tapped his shoulder. "Can I have the box to make another purse?"

  


Joey turned to snarl at her, and she reared back and giggled. 

  


Mokuba was still focused on the situation at hand. He tapped the table to interrupt Yami and Joey. "You'd better eat _alllll_ of it, Joey," he warned teasingly. "You never know! You might find the treasure!"

  


Joey seemed to brighten at the thought, and he pried open the flaps on the Happy Meal box with eager hands.

  


"Is it chicken nuggets?" Yami asked hopefully, nosing closer to peek into the box, but Joey snarled at her once more.

  


Joey munched french fries with one hand and his teeth, keeping one hand free to keep Yami away from the food. "For cryin' out loud, it's your turn _next_, ya little eating machine," he laughed, mouth full of chicken nugget. Despite his complaints about what he had to eat, he seemed to be enjoying himself.

  


Yami suddenly caught sight of Mokuba's stance across the table and raised a dark eyebrow at him, but the boy was too focused on Joey to notice. He had risen on his small knees in his chair, hands pressed flat to the table so hard the skin was mottling. He seemed to be leaning closer and closer to Joey every second, eyes piercing and intense, as if he were waiting for something...

  


Yami frowned. _...waiting for wh—_

  


Her question was answered before she had even finished asking it. Something was wrong with Joey.

  


The blond had stopped chewing mid-nugget, and a frown crossed his face before he swallowed, hard, as if it were difficult. His face was pale, a greenish hue spreading under his eyes. 

  


"Joey?" Yami asked worriedly, touching his shoulder. "Joey? Are you all right?"

  


Joey opened his mouth to answer, or scream, or vomit, but the only sound that issued forth was a strangled cry from a suddenly constricting throat. The greenish color of his face slid to blue, and he collapsed forward slightly, the dishes clinking as he rattled the table. 

  


"Talk to me, Joey!" Yami shrieked, grabbing her friend's arm, but Joey only groaned and pitched forward, tipping from his chair to curl up on the floor. 

  


Yami screamed and knelt at Joey's side, her head whipping up as she looked to Mokuba for help—only to see the small boy standing up on his chair, clapping his hands wildly. "_Bingo!!_ We have a _winner!!_"

  


Yami's jaw dropped. _It can't be!_...

  


Mokuba collapsed back to sit in his chair, kicking his feet and giggling maniacally. "_Mwa ha ha!_ Looks like you found the _treasure_, Joey!"

  


"Moku_baaaaaa—_" Yami said warningly, rising to her feet. _This little monster's trying to **kill** us!_

  


The kid was laughing so hard tears were streaming down his cheeks. "_Ha—h-he was—he was—ha ha ha!_" Collecting himself and wiping his eyes, he continued. "He was right! It was poisoned all along!" His violet eyes went steely again even through the tears of mirth. "I call this little game _Russian Roulette Dinner!_ Cause if you eat the wrong thing, you'll die of the poison in _thirty minutes!_"

  


Yami's ruby eyes shot wide. _Thirty minutes?!_ She glanced down at the now-unconscious Joey. _That's barely any time—!_

  


She pressed an ear to Joey's chest, listening to his breathing. _Sounds like a bucket of bolts_...

  


With a shaking hand, Yami tugged at the zipper of her From Autumn To Ashes hoodie. Whipping the sweatshirt off, Yami wadded it up into a ball and used it as a pillow for her friend's blond head, being careful not to hurt him with the punk-rock buttons and pins that decorated the pockets. Joey's breathing had become shallow and his eyes were shut tightly. She could feel the sting of tears press hard behind her eyes, but she knew they wouldn't help him. Pulse hammering, she racked her brain for a plan.

  


_I have one_, that cool, dark voice in her head whispered. 

  


"Mokuba!" Yami spat, rising to her feet once more and smacking a flat palm down to the table. "_This_ time—you're _dead_!"

  


But the boy was calm. "Maybe!" he agreed, sitting back in his chair as though it were a throne. "There _are_ five dishes left!, and _one_ more _prize_ among them!"

  


Yami wasn't going to get a bettter segue than that. "This is no game," she swore. "There's no way to win!"

  


"Oh, but there _is!_" Mokuba trilled, holding something teasingly under Yami's nose—a small, thin vial of colorless liquid. It rolled in the glass tube and Yami felt her heart leap a little. "If you _win_, you get this antidote and you can save Joey!"

  


Yami looked down at the table. "It appears to be my turn," she sighed, spearing Mokuba with angry red eyes. "And I'm quite hungry..."

  


Yami's movements had become the languid, catlike movements of the Game Queen. She spun the table almost lazily with one slender, tapered finger, sending it spinning faster than Mokuba would have thought a girl could do it. Finally a dish spun to a stop in front of Yami, who was now leaning on the table with her elbows. "Spaghetti?" she sighed, as though she were disappointed. "It seems those pancakes and I aren't meant to be together!"

  


"Eat up, eat up!" Mokuba coached, handing Yami a fork. "Come on, Yami, aren't you _hungry?_"

  


Yami narrowed her ruby eyes at him and twirled the pasta languidly around her fork. "Starving," she murmured, sucking on a strand of spaghetti until it disappeared between her heartshaped lips.

  


Mokuba watched, waiting for Yami to finish the spaghetti. "Looks like you're _safe_, Yami!" he chortled. "Your spaghetti musn't have been poisoned."

  


"It needed more oregano," Yami snorted, licking sauce from her lips with a small pink tongue.

  


Mokuba allowed a dark frown to cross his features. "You are in no position to abuse my hospitality—not when you're eating a meal where you could _live_ or _die!_" he roared, pointing a finger across the table. "_That's_ the strongest seasoning of all, Yami—so _savor_ the joy of _living!_"

  


Yami couldn't help but angle a glance down at Joey when he said that. The blond was still breathing shallowly; nothing had changed.

  


Mokuba's hand drifted to a small glass bottle on the table as he reached his other hand for the turntable. "My turn!"

  


Yami was focused on the bottle and therefore was taken by surprise when the chocolate parfait spun to a stop in front of Mokuba. "Oh, _damn!_" she shrieked, pounding a small fist on the table in defeat. "I was looking forward to that!"

  


Mokuba chuckled, gloating over his prize. "Mmmmm," he purred, leering at Yami. "Chocolate parfait! My _favorite_!"

  


Yami's eye twitched as she watched Mokuba munch the chocolate parfait, teasing her with the spoon every few bites. "Mokuba? What's in that bottle?" she asked suddenly, eyes drifting back over to it.

  


It was Mokuba's turn to twitch. His spiky hair seemed to stand on end and his eyes shot wide. "W-what? Oh, y-you mean _this_?" He touched a suddenly shaking finger to the glass bottle. "It's a _syrup bottle_! Sweet, sweety syrup for your precious pancakes!"

  


"If it's for the pancakes..." Yami crossed her bronze arms. "...then why is it _empty_?"

  


Mokuba chuckled nervously, a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead. "I'll tell you why! As soon as _you_ eat the poison, I'll fill the bottle! _Your suffering_ is going to be sweeter than any syrup!"

  


Yami seemed to accept the explanation; she settled back in her chair and Mokuba breathed a small inward sigh of relief. _That girl sends chills up my spine. I never thought she'd notice the bottle! Stupid girl is smarter than I thought..._

  


Yami had been right to notice the bottle. It was actually a switch that allowed Mokuba to stop the table wherever he wanted. 

  


Mokuba tried to slow his breathing. _But that was too close. She's going to catch on if this game goes on much longer..._

  


_I'm going to gain fifty million pounds if this game goes on much longer_, Yami thought, dabbing delicately at her lips with a white linen napkin.

  


Mokuba speared her eyes with his own. _The poison's in the hamburger, Yami...and I think you've just ordered the house special!_

  


"Hey, Mokuba," Yami said suddenly, sitting forward in her chair. "What do you say we finish this in one go? We'll spin the wheel, and then we'll eat whatever's in front of us? Hm?"

  


Mokuba grinned. "Sounds good to me."

  


Yami spun the table harder than ever before, giggling. "Here we go!"

  


Mokuba laughed too. _Stupid girl! Spin the table as hard as you can! The poisoned hamburger will always stop in front of you as long a I have this—_

  


There was a horrible sound like a thousand crystal glasses falling to the floor, and Mokuba's eyes instantly fled to his precious switch—or the shards of glass that were left of it. It spilled like glitter all over the table, sparkling in the overhead light.

  


_Broken?!_ Mokuba shrieked silently. _How?!_

  


Yami chuckled merrily. "Now there's no cheating, and the rest of the game is up to _luck!_"

  


Whatever Yami said, luck wasn't on Mokuba's side—the wheel slowed until the poisoned hamburger stopped in front of him. 

  


_!!_

  


The boy couldn't form thoughts, much less coherent words. His wide, disbelieving eyes bounced from the hamburger, to Yami, to the broken switch, and finally to the cause of the broken switch—the brilliant, steady golden shine of Yami's Millennium Puzzle. It was lying innocently among the shards of the broken switch bottle, its cord tied to the turntable. When Yami had spun the table, the Puzzle had smashed the bottle. 

  


"I _hate_ you," Mokuba finally managed to choke out.

  


Meanwhile, Yami was happily eating the meal that had stopped in front of her on the turntable—pancakes. She slowly closed her mouth around her fork and smiled at Mokuba, pressing her tongue to the roof of her mouth to savor the syrup. "You were right, Mokuba. That _is_ sweet." She sighed and placed her fork to one side. "Now, weren't the rules to clean your plate?"

  


Mokuba glared at Yami and reluctantly bit into the hamburger. She watched him pleasantly, licking syrup from her lips, and remained seated when Mokuba clutched at his throat dramatically before tipping from his chair onto the floor. "_H-help me!_" he choked, and servants swarmed around him. Yami had already knelt at Joey's side with the antidote, stroking his blond hair and smiling down at him. 

  


"Everything is going to be all right," she promised.

  


**

  


Despite Mokuba's attempt to kill them over dinner, Yami and Joey were still apparently invited to whatever the next day's "opening ceremonies" were. Yami was shown to a guest room and abruptly left alone. 

  


The only windows in the guest room were less than half a foot high and out of her reach, something Yami found odd. The walls were a pale beige, a small mirror the only decoration. The comforter on the bed was also beige and very soft; Yami liked it. A floor lamp was the only light in the room, and she quickly turned it off to let the moonlight in.

  


She threw her From Autumn To Ashes sweatshirt over the desk chair and curled up on the bed in her tank top and skirt, happy to be lying down after such a trying day. _I'll never sleep_, she thought, and then she was dreaming, the dream that had first come to her that night on the roof with Shadi.

  


**

  


_"Damn you," the priestess spat at her pharaoh, daring to defy him once again._

  


_"I could have you executed for saying such things to me," the king rumbled in response, raking a hand through his spiked hair. _

  


_"But you will not," the priestess responded. "You would not."_

  


_His angular, handsome face twisted in a sneer. "Does my priestess think she is special? You are not the only one who can control a dragon."_

  


_"I am the only one who can control **this** dragon." The priestess stamped her sandaled foot like a spoiled little girl, throwing shoulder-length dark hair back in fury. "And it is **this** dragon and my **control** of this dragon that has saved your life!"_

  


_"This dragon" was her pride, her strongest weapon and biggest accomplishment as the pharaoh's best priestess—Slyfer, the Sky Dragon. The beast answered only to her, was loyal to a fault and was more powerful than even the combined might of the three Blue-Eyes White Dragons that followed the hand of the priest Seto. _

  


_The pharaoh stalked towards her. "How dare you speak to me this way—"_

  


_"**Why?!**" she demanded, voice breaking finally, and he stopped his advance on her, blinking his large eyes curiously at her sudden sorrow. "Why did you not call Ra?" she asked softly, referring to the only dragon who **didn't** answer her call—the Winged Dragon of Ra, the most powerful beast in Egypt, who answered only to the son of Ra—the pharaoh._

  


_Her pharaoh, who was standing before her now with the right to execute her for her insubordination, and yet he was stroking her cheek, so gently, with the hands that could order her death._

  


_"There was no need to call the dragon."_

  


_"Bakura will come back," the priestess said angrily. "He is not beaten."_

  


_"Nor am I," the pharaoh responded. "He could not beat me in a duel today, Sanura, and he will not beat me upon his return."_

  


_"We must do something about the tomb robber," the priestess, Sanura, said, but with less conviction than before. She was faltering beneath her pharaoh's gaze, suddenly unsure of herself._

  


_The pharaoh continued stroking her cheek. "My priestess need not worry. Ra favors his son, and he has blessed me with a strong priestess, who is quite overprotective." He chuckled at this last bit, and Sanura frowned._

  


_"I command you to smile at me." Unlike the previous statement, the pharaoh was deadly serious this time around. Sanura locked her violet eyes on his defiantly._

  


_"And if I refuse?"_

  


_It was then that her pharaoh claimed her mouth, surprising her. "I have lied to you, Sanura," he breathed against her lips. "You are indeed special. One must be truly special to have violet eyes," he said, blinking violet eyes of his own at her._

  


**

  


Yami sighed in her sleep, curling up in an almost catlike position on the large bed. Her dark hair was spread over the pillow, her plaid skirt hiked dangerously high on her thigh. 

  


Seto Kaiba wondered what she was dreaming.

  


The young CEO's hand hovered over the dark hair, hesitant, but soon returned to his side without touching her. How sad, almost, that he had her trapped so easily. He had expected her to at least put up a fight, not happily curl up in the guest room and await what was coming to her...

  


She seemed to curl up on herself even more, and Kaiba frowned down at her. _It's time, you know. Tomorrow I'll exact my revenge. You'll be mine—you won't escape._

  


The girl slept on, uncaring.

  


There was a black sweatshirt folded over the desk chair. Kaiba picked it up, weighing it in his hands for a minute, then draped it over the sleeping girl, as sort of a makeshift blanket. There was no need for him to stay any longer. She wasn't going anywhere...

  


_You haven't a clue what I have in store for you, Yami Motou. You have no idea_.

  


With that, he left the room as silently as he had come in, the click of his master key in the lock lost in Yami's dream.

  


**

  


**Author's Notes:**

  


Okay, okay. I know that the song for this chapter was indeed **Ace of Base**. But hey! Much as I'd like to, I can't come up with a punk song for _every_ chapter! I'm a human girl, not a machine! ^chuckles.^ Besides, the Ace of Base album **"The Sign" **was really important because it was the first album I ever bought with my own money. I was eight or nine years old, I think. Normally I'd give this distinction to the **Salt-n-Pepa** album **"Very Necessary"**, but that had been a birthday present from my father. ^chuckles again.^ A far cry from the bands I listen to now, ne?

  


**Jolt Cola: **My father loves Jolt cola, and when I was a little girl I loved going to his office and just staying there all day. ...Who am I kidding? I still love to do that now. He's got a bunch of Jolt bottles lined up along his windowsill, and the Ship's Service store still sells it, I think. I haven't gone there in a while. I think I might before classes start up again—hopefully on Fish Fry Friday. Mmm...fish fry.

  


**Yami's outfit:** Once again, Yami's outfit is on loan from my closet.

  


**Happy Meal:** Yes, I did, on more than one occasion in my teenage years, use a Happy Meal container as a purse. Didn't everyone? 

  


Hopefully Mokuba will shut up for a little bit now! Besides, Yami's got bigger things to worry about...much bigger.


	19. Impressed

**Author's Introduction:**

200 reviews! I am so excited! I never dreamed a story I wrote would get so many reviews! 

_**[Edit 1: RANT: **When it comes to flamers, my patience is so at an end. The person who logged on as **someone** told me not to bother telling them anything because they "wouldn't come back to this story unless it wasn't manga, because this story is manga in case anyone noticed". **Yes**, I work from the manga, with **one major difference:** **Yami has breasts...GENIUS!** And if I have to explain the title of the story one more time, I am going to slit my wrists or someone else's. For the **LAST TIME**, the title is a pun. I'm so incredibly sorry that you're too **stupid** and **lazy** to understand that. Maybe if you had **read** the story instead of boring everyone with your inconsequential opinion, you might have realized that. And if you're so brave, if you're so strong in your convictions, my dear flamer, why didn't you leave me your **name?** You're an inspiration to us all, you coward. Congratulations; it's people like you that give fanfiction a bad name.**]**_

Okay, **rant** over. I'm sorry about that. It's just that I have no patience for people who hate on things they don't understand. Lately it's been happening a lot. And my patience with basically the entire world is coming to a huge, explosive, brilliant **end.** And so I want to extend an even more sincere **thank-you** to the faithful reviewers who **do** understand, and **do** keep reading, and **do** seem to enjoy the story. It's people like **you** who keep me from smacking people like **that moron I just blasted above.** So thanks.

^sighs.^ Thinking about it just makes me exhausted. And so I'm going to slide this chapter over to you guys, curl up, and go to sleep.

^smirks.^ I think this chapter might be dedicated to Yami's recent **stalker...**you know who you are.

**

**Chapter Seventeen, Twenty-Seventh Duel: Impressed**

_Six foot leaning on a lizard chest_

_Two red dragons ironed on his vest_

_All that money, you deserve the best_

_I'm impressed_

_I'm impressed_

_I'm impressed_

_I don't like you, but I'm impressed_

(Impressed)

(Natalie Imbruglia)

**_"The difference between science and magic is that magicians usually know what they're doing."_ (Ashleigh Brilliant)**

**

Seto Kaiba was lying in bed on sheets of Egyptian cotton, staring at the ceiling. 

Yami Motou. He hated her so much. She was such a nuisance! She was always getting in his way, always arrogant and righteous, her eyes flashing like rubies in her bronze face, keeping him awake at night like—

Without warning, he was asleep and dreaming. Yami was in his arms, crying out softly beneath him as he made love to her. "_Seto!_" she cried, arching into him and gasping for breath. "_Seto, yes!_"

"_Yami_," he murmured, kissing her closed eyes. "_I'll hold you_..."

Yami squirmed in his embrace, feverish with passion. "_Seto, I love you!_"

Waking from the dream, Seto Kaiba gasped, sitting bolt upright in bed. That nightmare again!

It took him a while to catch his breath. He was afraid to close his eyes again, unable to stop flashing back on his dreams—not only of Yami, but of the spell she had cast on him all those nights ago. The realm of the Duel Monsters, how he had been cornered and attacked over and over again...he shuddered.

_Seto, I love you..._

No. He shook his head to clear these thoughts. It was just a dream, a _nightmare_...

He slid out of bed and walked to the window, pushing the heavy drapes aside and throwing it open. The early morning sunlight dazzled his blue eyes, but the breeze was nice, and it was much better than the darkness of his bedroom.

A knock at the door caused him to jump, his heart rate picking up.

"...Who's...there?" he asked cautiously, half expecting it to be Yami, come to his room simply on the power of her intuition.

But thankfully, it wasn't Yami. His butler opened the door and bowed respectfully from the waist. "Good morning, Master Seto!"

"I hope so," Kaiba agreed, although his butler had no idea what he meant by that. The CEO stalked to his desk and began to sort through his briefcase of cards. He would need his best today...

"As you requested, Ms. Yami and her friend spent the night at the mansion," the butler reported. Kaiba nodded, not really listening. The butler had no way of knowing Kaiba had visited Yami's room while she had slept the night before.

She'd never even stirred, not even when he'd been close enough to touch her. She'd seemed to draw him to her...

_I have to end this,_ Kaiba thought. _I can't sleep, I can't concentrate. I need to finally get Yami Motou out of my head once and for all._

Aloud he said, "I had planned to give them a special welcome, but I couldn't stay awake..." This was true. Kaiba had been working himself nearly to death putting the finishing touches on his grandiose scheme.

He headed for the door, almost smiling in anticipation. _Finally, we shall see who is stronger..._

**

"Why are you _staring_ at me?" Joey inquired, sitting at a long dining table with Yami. Her stare was reflected in the dark polished wood. 

"Selfless concern?" Yami asked in reply, arching a chocolate brow at him. "You _did_ almost die last night, you know!"

Joey grinned. "But I _didn't_ die, thanks to you and your ability to eat your way through anything," he joked.

Yami frowned, huffing. "How dare you imply that I overeat!" She looked around frantically, patting her hands on the table as if searching for a bell or call button. "What the hell kind of hospitality do they _practice_ here, _who_ do we call for hors d'ouerves?!"

Joey, meanwhile, really wanted to put his feet up on the beautiful table. "Maaaann...I hate staying at this place. Makes me feel like I owe Kaiba a favor or something!"

"I should call my grandpa," Yami thought aloud, as if she were struck by the idea for the first time. "I was out all night without telling him..." She rose from her chair and walked to the large double doors. Wrapping a bronze hand around the fancy brass doorknob, she jiggled it. Locked.

"I don't like that they've locked us in, either," Yami murmured, crossing the room to head for the large staircase that descended to the middle of the room.

"Who's your mate?" a voice called jovially from the top of the staircase. Yami jumped in surprise.

"Kaiba!" she cried, tilting her face up towards him. 

Kaiba looked well-rested. He seemed lazy and dangerous in dark jeans and a long-sleeved black button-down that would have been businesslike if the collar hadn't been unbuttoned and open in a way that made him look ready for fun and games.

"That's right." The CEO chuckled. "It's good to see you, Yami, you're looking lovely as always."

What Yami was looking like was suspicious. She narrowed her bloodred eyes at him and glared through a fringe of dark lashes.

"Why the long faces, you two?" Kaiba said cheerfully, descending the stairs towards them. "I haven't seen you in so long, don't look like that."

"Oh, _cut_ the crap, Kaiba!" Joey hollered, pushing his chair back from the table so hard it fell over as he stood. "You get us practically kidnapped off the street to come here, and then your lunatic brother almost _killed_ us!" Joey spat onto the pretty carpet. "And then you expect us to be happy to _see_ you?!"

To give him credit, Kaiba looked mildly shocked. "Mokuba? He did what?" He glanced at Yami. _That little brat, he **knew** she was mine! I **told** him..._

Forcing those emotions aside, Kaiba sighed calmly. "You'll have to forgive the little scamp. He was probably only playing with you guys."

" 'Playing' is one way to describe what happened," Yami muttered. 

Kaiba looked thoughtful. "Let me make it up to you both."

Joey crossed his arms. "How do you expect to do that?"

"Hostess Sno-Balls?" Yami asked hopefully, turning her chocolate-vanilla head, her short attention span coming to her rescue once again.

Kaiba chuckled. "Even better."

**

Joey was easily placated by another Jolt Cola back in the limo. Meanwhile, Yami was unnerved by how calm Kaiba was. He lounged on the leather seats like a big cat, his blue eyes hooded and his smile lazy. He never took those blues off Yami, who steadily got more and more jumpy.

"Where are you taking us, Kaiba?" Yami finally asked, sitting bolt upright once again on the white leather seats.

Kaiba chuckled, looking even more relaxed, if such a thing were possible. "You're so impatient, Yami," he purred. "You'll see when we get there."

Yami seemed to shrink in her seat, not liking the cagey answer. "Will I like it?" she asked dubiously.

Kaiba laughed again. "Yami, if it doesn't stop your heart, I'll be extremely disappointed."

Joey deigned to join the conversation at this point. "What makes you so sure we'll be impressed? Kaiba, you've got an ego as big as a—"

"Skyscraper," Yami said suddenly, looking out the window as the limo purred to the curb.

A huge skyscraper soared above the street, the early morning sunlight glinting off the glass windows like a reflection of heaven. A crowd of people surged around the base of the structure, a living sea.

Kaiba smiled at Yami's wide eyes. "Do you like it? It's my tower of dreams..."

"Tower of dreams?" Yami asked, turning back to the window. She liked the sound of that. "What kind of dreams?"

Joey arched a golden eyebrow at Yami's girliness.

Kaiba smirked. _My dreams of completely dominating you in the dueling arena?_ "You'll see."

As Yami stepped out of the limo first, exposing a long line of thigh, Kaiba was reminded of a dream in which he'd dominated Yami _another_ way as well, and shook his head to clear the thought.

Yami waited as Joey and Kaiba got out of the limo, her eyes scanning the enormous crowd of children that had amassed in front of the skyscraper. They were milling about, chatting and laughing, beneath a giant sign that read—

"Kaiba Land?" Yami asked aloud. The neon sign was glowing even in the bright light of day—blue letters outlined in white. The symbolism was not lost on Yami. _Guess Kaiba hasn't quite given up on that dragon._..she thought, suppressing a smile.

Kaiba laughed, walking up beside her. "Do you like my dreams, Yami? It's an indoor amusement park!"

Kaiba felt traitorous to himself thinking about how pretty Yami looked when she was happy. She immediately clasped her hands together and lit up. "An amusement park! I love—"

Kaiba stilled, remembering. _Seto, I love you..._

"I love amusement parks!" Yami cheered, completing her sentence. Kaiba let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding.

The crowd had caught sight of them by now. Someone pointed and shrieked, "_It's him! It's Kaiba, the Game King!_"

Kaiba offered Yami his arm, and she accepted it almost timidly, curling her own arm around his. "Come on," he said, smiling at her. "I'll show you the park."

Joey jogged to catch up, sneakers pounding on the concrete. "What about me! Have you guys forgotten all about me, or what!"

Yami turned her head. "Hurry up, Joey—" But Kaiba steered her gently towards the building.

The voices rose all around them as they walked towards the double glass doors.

_"It's Kaiba! The world's greatest gamer!"_

_"He's my hero!"_

_"Who's that girl he's with? She better not be his girlfriend!"_

Joey jogged up alongside Yami. "Jeez, the kids sure do like him."

Yami didn't know what to say to that. Perhaps Kaiba had a softer side they didn't know about? He _had_ been acting awfully nice this morning...

"Kaiba Land is scheduled to open in three days, Yami," Kaiba explained, gesturing to the crowd with one arm and keeping the other wound around Yami's. "But as you can see, there's a special event today, so we're opening the doors to certain children by invitation only before the official opening for free."

"That's so cool," Yami said appreciatively. "The kids must be so excited! What fun!"

Kaiba smiled down at her exuberance. "And I wanted you to come play too..."

Yami searched his face, unable to tell what had changed him so drastically. _Maybe I'm worrying too much..._

Joey, for his part, was blanching as well. _Guess this guy isn't as bad as I thought..._

By this time they had reached the front doors. Kaiba turned and waved to the crowd, raising a cheer. "Hello everyone!" he called. "Welcome to the ceremony! We...are...**_open! Welcome to Kaiba Land!_**" And the massive doors behind him opened by themselves, like magic.

The crowd went crazy, surging forward. Kaiba's arms became a fence around Yami, shielding her from the human tide. She stepped closer to him instinctively while he chuckled, watching their excitement and listening to their cheers. "Do you see, Yami?" he asked. "My dream is to open Kaiba Lands all over the world for children _everywhere_ to enjoy!"

Yami's eyes lit up. "That's so cool! Kaiba, what a great thing to do!" _I've misunderstood you,_ she added in thought.

"Let's go play, come on, Joey!" she cheered, reaching for her best friend's hand.

A new voice cut through the happy throng like a blade. _"I know what you did, Seto!"_

Yami, Joey and Kaiba all turned to see a man pointing an accusing finger at them. A crimson tie hung loosely around his neck, his shirt was wrinkled and unbuttoned slightly, and his face was covered in stubble. "You _killed_ the C.E.O.!"

Yami gasped, hands flying to her mouth. Kaiba's eyes darted over to her. This was bad luck.

The man continued his tirade, pulling at his unkempt hair. "You took over Kaiba Corporation and drove the C.E.O., **_your own father_**, to commit suicide..."

Kaiba was about to respond, but Yami interrupted him—not with words, but with a gesture so incredibly touching it almost frightened him. She stepped in front of him, between him and his accuser. His blue eyes widened as he stared at the back of her chocolate-vanilla head. She was five foot nothing, but she was prepared to block harm from him. 

What did that mean...?

Kaiba's blue eyes slitted as they moved from Yami to his accuser. "Get rid of him," he muttered to his bodyguards, who moved to obey.

The man struggled, and Yami's eyes kept jumping to him as he was dragged away. He kept shouting things like, "Let me go, damn it! He's the deviiillll...!!"

"Who is that man?" Yami whispered to Kaiba. Joey leaned in to hear the response, but Kaiba spoke calmly aloud, feeling no need to hide. 

"He _used_ to be my father's right-hand man, but now he's a worthless has-been." His voice was dispassionate, as if he were talking about a movie, instead of something that had really happened. "There have been many rumors about that...tragedy..."

Yami stared at him. _Kaiba seems completely different from before! Which is his true face?_

Kaiba's face returned to its smile, as if he were wearing a mask. He held out his hands to Yami, as if he were a demon prince waiting to whisk her away to his lair. "Come on, let's go play."

Yami slid her hands into his and nodded slowly, worried again, a little about Kaiba, a little about herself.

**

"_Aiiiiiieeeeeeee!!_" Yami screamed in the virtual reality theater, seizing the arms of the boys sitting on either side of her as a giant dragon brought its dripping jaws closer to the seated crowd. Joey was gritting his own teeth, trying not to yell; meanwhile, Kaiba roared with laughter at Yami's fear.

"Looks real, doesn't it?" he called proudly over the soundtrack.

"_What_ looks real??" Yami shrieked. She was now holding each boy's hand, bringing them up to cover her face.

After that, Kaiba watched Yami and Joey play head-to-head video games, chuckling at their bickering.

"You ess-yuu-see-kay _suck_!" Joey pounded a fist against the screen of "Marvel vs. Capcom 2". Cyclops was lying defeated in a corner of the screen while Jill Valentine raised her bazooka in triumph, beret tilted jauntily on her head.

Yami calmly pretended to make a note on an imaginary pad. "That's thirty-five straight games you've lost."

"I wouldn't get so _annoyed_ if you didn't keep _score_!" Joey howled. 

Kaiba roared with laughter. "She's definitely got you, Wheeler!"

Joey frowned. "That's it, let's play another one! This time I'll get you!"

...and the beat went on.

"Are you having fun?" Kaiba asked almost gleefully an hour later. Yami sipped a soda, her pink lips closing delicately around the straw.

Yami nodded. "I'm having a great time!"

"Then let's go—the real fun is yet to come!" Kaiba said, leading the way further into the building. "It's the biggest attraction of this opening ceremony, and it's a special show just for you, Yami!"

Yami lit up again, and Kaiba had to steel his heart against her expression. "For _me_? Kaiba, you didn't have to do that!" She turned excitedly towards the double doors they were walking towards. "I can hear people cheering..."

Kaiba stopped just short of the massive doors and bowed to Yami. "After you," he said, just above a whisper, his blue eyes deep as mountain lakes.

Yami eagerly pushed open the doors. Joey followed.

Yami stopped abruptly, and Joey nearly walked into her. Kaiba swept to the side of her, a shadow in a dark shirt. A cheer rose high around them on all sides, followed by a chanting that ran beneath the cheers like a bass line. _Kai-ba, Kai-ba, Kai-ba_.

The room was a huge arena. Bleachers ran a circle around a raised platform in the center. Every seat was full, the white noise of cheering a constant waterfall-sound all around them Yami had never seen so many people in one place at one time. What were they all here for?

"An arena..." Yami trailed off, looking around. "Is this the show, Kaiba?" she asked.

"You bet your bustle, kiddo," Kaiba chuckled wildly. Joey began to get nervous. 

"Hey, look, there's a cube in the middle," Yami said, trotting out towards the platform in the center of the massive room. A large glass cube took pride of place there, and there seemed to be movement within it. "Is someone inside?"

For some reason, Joey knew enough to head towards Yami, but he wasn't in time to keep her from seeing who was inside the cube. Her bloodcurdling scream was lost in the cheers from the crowd. 

"_Jii-san!_"

Two bodyguards with faces as dark as their Armani suits were guarding the cube. Yami flew towards it, her hands splaying against the glass. "Grandpa! Grandpa!"

The old man, who had been sitting at a gaming table, saw his granddaughter run towards him and rose quickly to face her. "Yami!" he cried, his face lighting with both fear and relief. He placed his hands to the glass on his side, against Yami's but unable to touch them.

Yami had worried while in Kaiba's mansion about not calling her grandfather. In actuality, he hadn't been home to miss her call. Kaiba had sent more men in suits to the Kame Game Shop to "invite" Sugoroku to the opening of KaibaLand. The invitation consisted of a threat to kill Yami if her grandfather hadn't consented.

Kaiba felt a smirk twitch his lips. It had been easy for him to threaten Yami, because he had known beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was never actually in real danger. Sugoroku would never have allowed harm to come to Yami—the love for her was evident in the old man's eyes.

Yami was already running her hands all over the side of the glass cube, searching for a way to open it. Kaiba already knew there was none. The cube would open only by his command. The bodyguards wound their hands around Yami's small arms, pulling her away from the cube. "Let go!" she cried, her feet leaving the floor between the two men as she struggled. "Let me go!"

Kaiba set his jaw. _This is it, _he thought. _You're mine, Yami Motou._

He waved a hand to the cheering crowd. "**For your entertainment, you will now witness a match of the world's #1 collectible card game, Duel Monsters!**" he announced.

Yami was still struggling against the arms of the suited bodyguards, but she quieted down to listen to Kaiba's speech to the crowd.

The man in question waved a long arm to indicate Sugoroku. "My challenger is this gentleman, Sugoroku Motou! He is said to be a game master who's never lost a duel! We'll see what happens, won't we?"

Yami was confused. "Grandpa and Kaiba? Duel Monsters?" She had settled down entirely now, watching.

Joey's yell of "I _knew_ Kaiba was a jerk!" was lost among the howls and calls of the crowd.

_"Why's that old guy challenging Kaiba?"_

_"There's no way he can win!"_

Amidst the cheering, Kaiba entered the cube, taking a seat across from Sugoroku Motou at the table set up within the glass walls. "Don't hold back, old man," he warned with a sinister smile. "Hit me with your best shot!"

But the old man's violet eyes weren't focused on the CEO; they stared to the side, through the glass. Kaiba frowned, turning his own head to follow Sugoroku's gaze, and saw Yami. She looked alert but calm, watching this new turn of events with a blank face. There might have been nothing beyond those ruby eyes. Her hands were open and empty at her sides. Waiting. Waiting.

Sugoroku saw where Kaiba was looking. "I will win," he told the CEO, a gleam in his violet eyes. _For her_, was the unspoken addition to the statement. _My deck has the strongest card on Earth—the Blue-Eyes White Dragon! Once I draw that card, I win!_

"He _can_ do it," Yami whispered. "He _can_!"

Kaiba leaned back in his chair, looking completely assured of his victory. Yami recognized that look. She had seen it once herself—right before she had defeated Kaiba in their duel.

_Come on, Jii-san_, she thought. _If **I** can knock Kaiba on his ass, surely you can._

Kaiba placed a card faceup on the table and sneered at Sugoroku. "Incidentally, old man, the very cube we sit in is actually a high-tech project made especially for this game! I hope it won't be too hard on someone of your advanced _age_..."

Both Sugoroku and Yami wore identical frowns when they heard that, but the looks didn't last long—Kaiba's card was coming to life within the cube, a monstrous cyclops slashing the air between it and Sugoroku with ragged claws.

Yami's eyes shot wide when she saw the monster appear in the cube. _How? _she thought, her mind flashing back to her own duel with Kaiba. _How could he harness such power? Kaiba has no—_

"See? The four walls of this cube project the card as a three-dimensional image!" Kaiba cackled as Sugoroku cowered beneath the virtual monster.

_Oh_, Yami thought, pouting. _It figures. Kaiba has no magic in him..._

"It's like a real cyclops attacking me!" Sugoroku said aloud.

Kaiba's smile was gleefully psychotic. He answered Sugoroku, but his eyes were on Yami, beyond the walls of the cube. "Isn't that just like _magic?_"

"Oh, I am going to kill him so dead," Yami muttered, so low that only Joey could hear.

"You'll give me a heart attack with these graphics," Sugoroku muttered back inside the cube, mopping sweat from his brow but focused on his cards.

The duel went on. Both players were at such a high level that the crowd was definitely getting its money's worth. The three-dimensional projections were amazing in their authenticity—ferocious monsters, dazzling spells. It all served as a wonderful distraction from Yami, who was slowly but surely inching her way closer and closer to the cube that contained the two duelists. Finally she was pressed against the cube once again, hands spread on the glass. Kaiba saw her moving around outside, a brightly-colored blur in the corner of his eye, like watching an angelfish swim through very clear water.

Meanwhile, Sugoroku chuckled at his young opponent. _This young man is pretty good...even if he doesn't know how to use magic cards properly!_ His gaze became steely as he drew his next card. "It's game over for you!" he announced, displaying the card to Kaiba. "I've drawn the **Blue-Eyes White Dragon!**"

Yami smiled through the glass walls of the cube, Sugoroku's dragon a mirror of her happiness as it fluffed the air with its holographic wings.

**

"He's done it!" Yami cried happily, spinning in a graceful dance move, her plaid skirt flaring around her. "He's got the Blue-Eyes! Jii-san's won!"

Coming out of her spin, she turned towards Kaiba...

...who looked absolutely calm.

Yami stumbled at the end of the spin upon seeing Kaiba's expression. The CEO's eyes were calm as the sea, his lips curved into the slightest of smiles. He wasn't looking at Sugoroku or the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, no, not at all. Those ice-cold blue eyes were focused on Yami the entire time, and suddenly she understood the meaning of his words before. _It's a special show, just for you, Yami_. 

_Something's wrong_, Yami realized—just as Kaiba's calm expression broke into a full-fledged smirk. He displayed his next three cards, one at a time. "Then I'll play this card next turn...and then, this card...and after that, this card."

Yami watched in horror as the monsters materialized around Kaiba, curling around him almost protectively, their jaws yawning at Sugoroku.

"_**Three **Blue-Eyes White Dragons!_" Yami's shriek echoed Sugoroku's thoughts. 

Kaiba's smirk was wicked, evil. The dragons screamed, and so did Yami, her hands spread against the glass. Like a true megalomaniac, the CEO began to explain his plans to the defeated Sugoroku.

"Only four copies of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon are known to exist in the entire world," he announced. "Of course, they were in the hands of fanatic collectors around the world. One in America, one in Germany, one in Hong Kong...and _you_, old man!"

Sugoroku's eyes widened in horror. 

Kaiba leaned back in his chair, eyes hooding as if he were bored. He shrugged, a well-oiled movement of his shoulders. "Of course, none of them agreed when I told them to hand it over, so I used a bit of..._force_..."

The word was left dangling in mid-air, leaving a horrific idea of _what_ kind of force. 

Kaiba finally rose from his chair, as proud and terrible as a king. "**This is punishment for losing to me, _and_ to your card for betraying me last time!**"

The card in question was in Kaiba's hands now, and Yami's heart grew cold as she remembered the rules of the game—each player stakes their rarest card on the match. 

Somehow, even through the walls of the soundproof cube, Yami imagined she could heard the sound of Kaiba tearing her grandfather's Blue-Eyes White Dragon in half.

"My Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" Sugoroku cried.

Kaiba stood, tall and terrible and shining with absolute evil as he laughed. "Now _I'm _the only one with this card in the entire world!"

Yami cried out in outrage. "You wicked thing!" she exclaimed, even though Kaiba couldn't hear her. "How could you be so spiteful!"

But Kaiba wasn't finished. He extended an arm towards Sugoroku like a proclamation of death. "And _now_, old man—are you ready for a _penalty game?_"

Yami's hands flew to her mouth. _Oh, no..._

Sugoroku's violet eyes widened in fear as a holographic imitation of that deadly mist began to fill the cube. His gaze darted around as the mist began to take shape, dripping jaws, razor claws...

The duel monsters blinked into holographic life around Sugoroku. There was no heart of the cards in the soulless science of the attack; they obeyed only the programs of their diabolical master, who was exiting the cube without even looking back.

"_Jii-san!_" Yami called, but he couldn't hear her. She could barely hear herself over the cheering of the crowd.

_"Kaiba's awesome!"_

_"Yeaaaaah Kaiba!"_

Unable to help herself, she turned to them. "Stop it!" she screamed desperately. "Stop cheering! Stop it, you monsters!"

They didn't understand. They didn't care. They just wanted a show.

A voice purred in her ear. "Are you enjoying the show, Yami?"

She whirled to face the demon prince, hands rising to grip the collar of his black shirt. "Kaiba," she breathed. "Let my grandfather out of that box. _Now_." She punctuated the last with a shake. It made Kaiba laugh.

His arms came up around her, lifting her in his embrace as if for a kiss, locking her against him. His cheek slid against hers. He was fever-warm. "We've done human experiments in that simulator," he whispered. Yami's chin was hooked over his shoulder, her wide, fearful eyes locked on the figure of Sugoroku, who was now cowering in a corner of the glsas cube. 

Kaiba continued. "We've discovered that the average person goes insane in about ten minutes." His hand stroked down her hair almost lovingly, his whisper dropping almost to inaudibility. "How long do you think your jii-san will last?"

Yami's nails pressed hard into his shoulder. "What?" she almost sobbed. "What do you want?"

_**You**, dear heart..._

But what he said aloud was, "I'll stop the simulator. I'll let him go..._if_ you swear to face the hidden attraction of Kaiba Land—**Death-T!!**"

Yami's mind was once again catapulted back to her duel with Mokuba. _"Death-T is coming, and you won't escape..."_

She squeezed her eyes shut in defeat. "...Yes...Yes..."

Kaiba chuckled warmly, his cheek pressed against her hair, as if they were lovers instead of enemies. "Yes," he murmured in victory. "Yes!"

**

**Author's Notes:**

Yami's stalker knows I hate this chapter. Now you all know I hate this chapter. I don't know why I hate it. It just took me forever to write, and I can't wait till the shooting starts. Can you?

**On Marvel vs. Capcom and Jill Valentine:** I love playing _Marvel vs. Capcom 2_, even just because it's so awesome that they actually put a Resident Evil character in a fighting game. Now _that_ is just two awesome things together.

Kaiba might have gone a little insane in this chapter. It's okay, Seto. I know I did too.

I can't wait for next chapter. It's just going to be so much better than this one.


End file.
